A JURY considering the case of a former care worker accused of sexually
abusing boys in care back in the 1970s has been sent home.
The jury of six men and six women retired for more than 90 minutes at Mold Crown Court and were then sent home by Judge Niclas Parry.
They will resume their deliberations on Monday morning.
Kevin Poole, now 65, denies that anything sexual took place when he worked for the Bryn Alyn community in Wrexham at a time he was in his twenties.
Poole, of St Leonards, Gloucestershire, has pleaded not
guilty to five counts of indecent assault on three complainants, now men
in their fifties or sixties.
The first complainant alleges he was lying in bed in a dorm as a child when the defendant entered and touched his penis over his clothing.
Another complainant said he went to see Poole because he had an upset stomach but he touched his penis over his pyjamas.
In another incident Poole got him to masturbate him in a tent in the grounds, it was alleged.
He had been asked to help Poole to take the tents down, he said.
The third complainant said he was taken to a property in Poyser Street, Wrexham, to help clean up after discos, travelling on Poole's VW Beatle.
He alleged Poole told him to take his clothes off and he ended up
completely naked on stage with Poole looking up at him taking
photographs, he alleged.
It then happened every four to six weeks, he claimed, about 10 times in
total.
He claimed that on one occasion, when he refused to do so, Poole grabbed him by the arm which was forced back and fractured.
It was limp and he was in agony, he said, and he was taken to hospital.
Poole denied anything sexual happened at all.
The alleged incident in the dorm had not happened, he said.
Poole said he was not responsible for taking tents down at the end
of the summer and he had not indulged in sexual activity with the boy in a
tent.
Discos did not take place at Poyser Street until after he had left, he
said, and denied that anything sexual had taken place there.
The complainant said that he had told his social worker what was going
on and that she had told him to leave it with her, but nothing changed.
In a statement from his social worker, read to the jury, she said she
had no memory of such complaints.
He was also told there was no record of him breaking his arm at the
time.
Poole, married for 38 years with three grown-up children and also a
grandfather, said he had always tried to be kind to the boys because he was aware of the strict regime which, he said, was more like a borstal.
Questioned by his barrister Mark Kelly he said the allegations against him were not true and the suggestion that he had taken indecent photographs of boys were pure nonsense, he said.
He denied he had developed indecent photographs in a dark room while other photographs, including those used in an internal magazine, were sent away for developing.
Poole denied suggestions by barrister Catherine Donnelly, prosecuting, that a gift he had given to the home owner John Allen, a photo albums of boys in swim wear and a message on it "the camera sees the beauty and records for all men to see" had erotic undertones.
He said the beauty referred to the photographs and not to the boys.
Proceeding.
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