Lessons assault

A minor today claimed that his music lessons teacher pushed his hands in his pants and squeezed his testicles when he was unable to give an answer to a question.

That was the testimony of the now 14-year-old boy as he gave evidence in the No. 5 Supreme Court on the first day of an indecent assault trial presided over by Madam Justice Pamela Beckles.

An eight-member jury is hearing the evidence in which the lessons teacher is charged with committing the offence against the then 11-year-old student while in the music room of a secondary school in St Michael on January 7, 2016.

The teen said that his father had instructed him to “find something to do” as he would not be able to collect him early from school on a consistent basis. He then heard music coming from the music room and went there and spoke with the accused about his desire to learn how to play the piano. The lessons teacher in turn gave him a card which he later handed over to his dad. The lessons, which were held two or three days a week, began soon after.

The young boy said on the day of the alleged offence, the lessons teacher kept asking him a question but he continuously got the answer wrong.

The tutor, he said, then “unbuckled” his belt and “eventually he stick his hand in my pants . . . and squeezed my testicles”.

“His hands was inside my underwear . . .  I can’t remember the exact date . . . I pulled away . . .” the boy said.

He went on to say that the tutor was sitting on the piano chair while he was standing when the incident occurred.

“I eventually got it right,” the boy said adding that the incident lasted between two to three minutes and “I was trying to pull away”.

He said he tried to speak to his dad about the incident but his father did not hear him at the time. So he went home and spoke to his brother but his mother overheard the conversation and questioned him.

His mother and father then took action and the matter was reported to the Black Rock Police Station. He later identified the accused in a police line-up.

Under cross-examination, the accused asked the teen why he did not try to tell his father what happened.

“My father didn’t hear when I first told him . . . I went home and told my brother,” said the boy who also said that he did not make any noise because “no one else was in the area at the time”.

The accused then asked the teen why he did not do something to push him away or to get away.

The teen responded: “At the time I was not . . . that sort of person . . . to do that
. . . . I was really shy.”

The boy’s mother and father also took to the stand and said after speaking to their son they visited the school and spoke with the principal. They then went to the police station to make a report.

The substantive music teacher at the school also took the stand and said he knew the accused for over ten years as he was a former pupil of the school who he taught from second form.

“He was very helpful . . . he was always at the school. He would assist me and the school in giving tuition to students,” the teacher said adding that the accused assisted the complainant with piano lessons.

“He was not a teacher. He was there to assist me. I gave him access to the music room. I would observe lessons from time to time,” the teacher who had been teaching at the school since 1989, said.

He also revealed through questioning by prosecutor Senior Crown Counsel Krystal Delaney that he observed the lessons on the day of the alleged incident. He subsequently left the compound, leaving the two in the music room.

Several police officers also gave evidence in the trial today.