A former teacher who allegedly sexually assaulted three pupils at one of Britain's most prestigious schools was exonerated of abusing two boys at a different school years before, a court heard on Wednesday.
Bruce Roth, 46, is accused of sexually abusing five boys at two boarding schools, the renowned Wellington College in Berkshire and King's School in Rochester.
Roth was a housemaster at Wellington College, which counts Will Young among its alumni
Two complaints were made against Roth after he allegedly sexually touched one boy and repeatedly abused another, both aged between eight and 10, while an assistant housemaster at King's School in Rochester between 1987 and 1994, Reading Crown Court heard.
But the accusations were dropped - the second time following an internal investigation.
Roth went on to sexually assault three more boys at Wellington, performing oral sex regularly on one of them and regularly masturbating another, prosecutor Daniel Fugallo told the court.
During his time as a teacher and assistant housemaster at King's, Roth was reported to staff by concerned family members of two boys aged between eight and 10.
The first incident involved Roth touching one boy's groin after he suffered a playground injury, the court heard.
After a complaint was made by one of the boy's families, a member of staff at the school asked Roth about the incident and he told them he was teaching the boy how to apply ointment to a rash. The family member was satisfied with this explanation, the court heard.
But the second time, Roth had been going into a boy's dorm room at night. He would sit on the edge of the boy's bed and tell him not to turn over, Fugallo said.
Roth would stroke the boy's chest and put his hands down his pyjamas and touch his genitals.
"Mr Roth would say things like 'stay there' and then would leave," Fugallo said.
After a family member complained to the school an internal investigation was launched but Roth was exonerated as a school staff member who conducted the investigation thought it was Roth's word against the boy's and could not prove anything, Fugallo said.
The second boy at King's was sexually touched at least three times, the court heard.
After Roth joined Wellington the pattern continued.
The first boy he abused there was 13 or 14 at the time.
Roth's night-time visits to his dorm progressed into regular oral sex, once in the teacher's flat in the school grounds.
His second alleged victim at the school was about 15 years old, Fugallo said.
The boy had problems at home and Roth would visit his dorm and touch him sexually.
Fugallo said that on one occasion the teacher said to the boy words to the effect of: "I'm just giving you a bit of affection because I think you are lacking it."
A third boy that Roth used to visit at night and stroke on the upper body eventually confronted him.
According to Fugallo, the boy said to Roth: "If you told someone that you were coming into a student's room at night and stroking them under their shirt what do you think they would say?"
Fugallo said: "At that point Mr Roth stopped what he was doing and that touching never happened again."
After the boy who confronted Roth told a school counsellor what had happened they notified the police.
Once Roth was arrested he denied everything and even called the boy "sinister" and "a fantasist" during a police interview, the court heard.
Fugallo explained: "He did say he thought (the boy) had a sinister side to him, that he was a fantasist."
As news reports began to emerge about Roth, the other alleged victims came forward one by one, the court heard.
Every time Roth was arrested he denied sexually abusing the boys, Fugallo said.
The first alleged victim contacted Roth after finding him years later on Facebook.
Now an adult, he sent Roth a message asking why he rubbed ointment into his genitals and if he was a paedophile, Fugallo said.
Roth denied the incident ever happened.
None of the boys were friends or had any contact with each other, the court heard.
Roth denies 17 counts of sexual offences against children.
In total, four of the boys had told people about abuse before Roth was charged and brought to court.
A police interview with Roth's first alleged victim at Wellington was played to the court.
It showed him visibly distressed, telling an officer how he felt suicidal, miserable and how he self-harmed.
The alleged victim said: "I'm not a psychiatrist but looking back I was just, and still am in some ways, so unstable, insecure, miserable in many ways.
"I certainly wouldn't have self-harmed if that hadn't have happened."
The alleged victim said he felt he had to come forward to stop Roth abusing anyone else.
In the interview, he said: "If he was doing something to someone else and I knew I was someone that could help - I said to myself I will go to the police."
Wellington College charges annual fees of around £27,000 and has around 1,000 pupils.
Its headmaster is Dr Anthony Seldon, the well known historian and biographer of Tony Blair.
Peter Snow, Rory Bremner, Will Young and Sebastian Faulks count themselves among the school's alumni.
A spokesman for Wellington College said: "We informed the police and social services as soon as these serious allegations came to light, and have continued to work closely with these agencies throughout their enquiries.
"We cannot comment on the specifics of the case during the trial, beyond saying that the whole staff team is deeply saddened that these alleged offences might have taken place at the college.
"As always, the welfare of our pupils is our number one concern."