A former teacher has gone on trial accused of sexually abusing three pupils at a school in Fife.
Robert Taylor, 70, denies the offences against two boys and a girl, said to have started in 1998.
A woman told Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court that Taylor used to put his hands in her blouse and up her skirt to touch her as he taught her at a computer.
He also locked the door and made her touch him when they were alone in his classroom, she alleged.
Another former pupil alleged Taylor used to “flick” him on the private parts hard enough to “bring me down”, spit on him and slam the door on his arm.
Taylor, of Musselburgh Road, Dalkeith, is accused of lewd, indecent and libidinous practices and behaviour towards the children on various occasions while they were aged 11 to 15.
He is also accused of assaulting and indecently assaulting one of the alleged victims.
The offences are alleged to have occurred at the school, in a vehicle and at a house elsewhere in Fife over five years to 2003.
On the first day of his trial on Tuesday the court heard former pupils were contacted by police during an investigation into the school.
The woman told jurors the abuse would occur while she was put in Taylor’s classroom alone to protect her from being bullied.
Even when other pupils were present she alleged Taylor would touch her on the chest as he walked past.
She said: “I would just sit there in shock. He always told me if I told anyone he would make me out to be a liar because no one would believe me.”
She claimed she told school staff, social workers and doctors of her abuse at the time and when she told her grandparents they “just said I was doing it for attention”.
However, Taylor’s solicitor David Bell said there was no mention she had reported sexual abuse in either her medical or social work records.
He said: “Is the true position that you didn’t tell anyone about anything happening at the time because there was nothing to tell?”
The woman replied: “That’s not true.”
Mr Bell suggested that allegations made by the woman and a man who also claimed to be a victim were made out of anger towards the school where they both admitted they had a bad time.
In his evidence, the man said Taylor would hit him on his crotch with the back of his hand when he was acting up in class.
When asked if this was done as punishment, he said: “Yeah, in punishment, but I think it was for ease of getting you away.”
The man also claimed Taylor would join in when he and fellow pupils talked about sex and girls.
The trial before Sheriff James Williamson continues.
