A MAN aged 70 has gone on trial amid allegations of sexually abusing two young boys when he himself was in his mid-20s and working in child care in North Wales.

It is alleged he abused one boy at a secure unit at an assessment centre in Wrexham where he was the deputy superintendent, and another at his then flat in Colwyn Bay when he worked as a social worker on an intermediate programme.

Huw Meurig Jones, 70, denies 13 counts of sexual abuse between June 1975 and October 1978.

Opening the case to the Mold Crown Court jury, barrister Danny Moore, prosecuting, alleged Jones had a sexual interest in young boys and had abused his position of trust, a claim Jones denies and which he described to police as lies.

The two complainants first made allegations against Jones, who comes from Penybryn, Old Colwyn, in 1992 following a major inquiry by North Wales Police into Clwyd and Gwynedd Care homes but Jones was not prosecuted at that stage.

Mr Moore said the North Wales Tribunal, chaired by Sir Ronald Waterhouse, was held between 1997 and 1998 and in 2013 the Government ordered a further investigation, named Operation Pallial, which was carried out by the National Crime Agency.

Following a review of earlier decisions Jones was charged and it was up to the jury now in 2018 to decide if they were made out, he said.

Jones, the jury heard, had worked at a children’s home named Cheviot Hey and no complaint arose from his period there but while at the Little Acton Assessment Centre in Box Lane, Wrexham, between July 1974 and March 1976 it was alleged the first complainant, now a man in his 50s, had been abused.

He absconded, on his return he was placed in a secure unit within the centre and Jones was on duty at night.

It was alleged he entered his room and abused him.

The boy then 13 was said to have frozen and was scared.

It was alleged Jones visited on three other occasions and the boy was abused each time.

Jones, who had no formal qualifications, started working for Clwyd County Council on an intermediate programme where boys would be taken to various activities.

It was alleged he befriended and then abused a boy aged 14 or 15 at his flat in Colwyn Bay after taking him there to play cards including Strip Jack Poker. It was alleged that an unlawful sexual act also occurred.

Arrested and interviewed, Jones denied the allegations. He said he had not abused the boy at the assessment centre and said that while the second complainant and other boys had visited his flat and they played snap and whist, they did not play Strip Jack Poker and nothing sexual took place.

Jones told police he was not a sexual person at all and had never been attracted to young boys.

Jones denies a total of 13 charges - four of gross indecency with a child, seven of indecent assault and two of a serious sexual assault.

The trial before Judge Rhys Rowlands continues and is expected to end on Monday.