Sex claims are no fantasy, says former schoolboy who accuses chemistry teacher of sleeping with him up to 30 times when he was 14

A former schoolboy who has accused a teacher of having had a sexual relationship with him from the age of 14 has told a court he is not a ‘fantasist’ who made up the allegations.

Sally-Anne Bowen, 65, is on trial at Harrow Crown Court accused of eight counts of indecent assault against two boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

She is alleged to have had sexual relationships with both boys in the late 1980s, when they were around 14 to 15 and she was in her mid-20s, the court previously heard.

Jurors were told one of the complainants said he had sex with Bowen, who was then a teacher at Christ’s College school in Finchley, north London, ‘about 20 or 30 times’.

Bowen denies all the charges, with jurors previously being told she claims to have had a medical condition at the time that made having sex all but ‘impossible’. 

Giving evidence on Thursday, the complainant told the court he had not invented the allegations against the teacher.

Asked by Bowen’s defence barrister Mark Kimsey whether he knows what a fantasist is, the complainant replied that he did.

‘I believe it’s someone that indulges in fantasies,’ the complainant said.

Asked whether he would agree that a fantasist is someone who has ‘unrealistic ideas’ and blurs the lines of reality with fantasy, he replied: ‘I think the question’s quite insulting.’ 

Mr Kimsey said: ‘Just to make clear, so you know, Miss Bowen’s case from the start is that she doesn’t accept, at all, engaging in any form of sexual activity.’

‘Well then, that is the definition of a fantasist,’ the complainant replied.

He told the court that some of the sexual acts Bowen asked him to participate in were ‘perverse’, adding: ‘I’m a “fantasist”, right? That’s not a part of anyone’s fantasy, to be involved in perversion.’

The court previously heard that Bowen maintained a sexual relationship with the complainant for several months, and he often visited her home.

He told jurors he felt compelled to ‘protect’ the teacher, who had ‘drummed it’ into him that he was not allowed to tell anyone about their relationship.

The complainant said: ‘In the months I was having sex with her… I never spoke to any other schoolboy about the fact I was having sex with her.

‘I never, ever spoke to anyone about it. I was always really aware, she drummed it into me.

Jurors were told one of the complainants said he had sex with Bowen, who was then a teacher at Christ’s College school in Finchley, north London , ‘about 20 or 30 times’

‘To indoctrinate a 14-year-old child is one thing, to have sex with a 14-year-old child is another thing… to remain silent to everyone.

‘I had this secret I couldn’t speak to anyone. I spoke to one person who was my best friend who didn’t go to this school.’

He added: ‘Years she got to teach, because I remained silent.’

In a police interview played to the jury, the complainant said that when Bowen worked at the school, she dressed in a way which was ‘sexually provocative’.

He said: ‘Sally-Anne Bowen used to wear tight Levi jeans and black skinny pants that you could see everything in, and a black mini skirt up to there.’

‘My introduction to the world was completely governed by Sally-Anne Bowen,’ he told police.

‘I had no experiences, so it was her experiences that laid the groundwork for the sexual interactions that we had.’

In the video, the complainant said he cannot deny that he enjoyed having sex with Bowen, the ‘games’ and ‘secrets’ she engaged him in, and the feeling of having ‘one-up’ on his teachers.

‘But for me it was the destruction of my education,’ he added.

The complainant told police: ‘All those aspects of me at that young age – I had no respect for authority, no self-respect. My mother never forgave me.’

He added: ‘I would like to get in a room with all those teachers, and Sally-Anne Bowen, and say, “that’s my life”, because you only get one.’

Bowen denies the charges against her and the trial continues.