Boy could have raped teacher, says father

THE father of a schoolboy who was allegedly seduced by his teacher told a court yesterday he believed his son could have raped her.

Jane Watts, 47, is accused of having sex with the boy when he was 13. She is alleged to have seduced him at her bungalow when he stayed there during school holidays.

However, the boy's father, giving evidence for the defence, told Winchester Crown Court: 'Knowing my boy the way I do, I believe he could be capable of raping her.' He added that the boy had tried to get into bed with his 18-year-old stepdaughter. 'He came into her bedroom and told her 'I'm worried about my dad - can I get into bed with you?' '

The father went on to describe his boy as 'uncontrollable and a liar'.

Mrs Watts, of Ferndown, Dorset, is suspended from her job at a Dorset school. She denies two charges of indecent assault in 1992. The jury was directed by the judge yesterday to return a verdict of not guilty on a third charge of indecent assault in August 1992.

The father told the court how his former wife told him their son had been 'interfered with by a teacher'. He said: 'I had a job to believe it.'

The boy has told the court Mrs Watts molested him at her home after she befriended his family. He claims they had regular sex sessions and that Mrs Watts paraded naked in front of him as he watched television to lure him into bed.

The father said his son had been in trouble at school after being caught behind a bicycle shed with a girl. He said: 'I told him he ought to behave himself or he was going to get into trouble.'

Ben Stephenson, for the prosecution, said in his closing speech that Mrs Watts had sex with the 13-year-old 'to gratify her own desires' because she was 'totally infatuated with him'.

He described Watts' defence that she had been raped as 'extraordinary and bold', saying: 'The rape allegation only came out when this case arrived in court.'

He asked: 'If the boy had been a monster who had raped her again and again, would she have invited him on a summer holiday in the country? It does not make sense.'

Mr Stephenson also claimed the boy's father did not know his son very well, saying he left home when he was nine and saw him just once a month.

Roger Davey, for the defence, said: 'We are saying that the boy came to the court and lied and lied again.'

Summing-up, Judge Ian Starforth Hill said that even if the boy had agreed to sex it was against the law. 'The law protects children under 16. Even if he consented it would be an offence.'

The jury is to retire today.

(Photograph omitted)