A former Portslade teacher has been ordered to appear before a crown court judge next month on nine charges of indecently assaulting six boys.
Geoffrey Parkin, 67, who is now retired and living in Nursery Close, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, appeared at Brighton Magistrates’ Court last Thursday (15 January).
He was bailed to Lewes Crown Court on Thursday 12 February and ordered not to contact his accusers to prevent him from interfering with witnesses or otherwise obstructing the course of justice.
All the offences were alleged to have taken place between the start of the 1970-71 school year and the start of the next academic year.
At the time Parkin was a young teacher – 22 or 23 years old – at the Portslade County Secondary School for Boys. The boys were all aged 11 or 12 years old.
Eight of the nine offences were said to have taken place at a nearby swimming school which belonged to the Mile Oak Approved School for Boys in Mile Oak Road, Portslade. The approved school closed in 1977 and has since been demolished.
The ninth offence was alleged to have been committed at a camp site in Devon or Cornwall.
The specific allegations are that Parkin flicked four boys on their naked backsides with a towel and smacked one of them on the bottom with his hand.
He is also accused of picking up two boys between the legs and throwing them into the swimming pool and cupping one of the boys’ genitals.
The other charge accuses Parkin of indecently assaulting a boy in a tent during a camping trip without giving any further detail.
The case follows a year-long investigation by detectives from Brighton and Hove CID into claims first made to Sussex Police in November 2013.
The Portslade Boys’ County Secondary School merged with Mile Oak Girls’ School, previously known as Portslade Secondary Modern School for Girls, to become Portslade School and Community College in 1972.
The merged school was later renamed Portslade Community College. It has since become the Portslade Aldridge Community Academy (PACA).
