Robert Gould 'got into my bed' and 'raped me’ says man who alleges he was abused as a child by the Rushden teacher

The man, who was just a boy at the time of the alleged incidents, said that he was assaulted on three separate occasions by Gould, 74.

The former teacher denies 31 charges against 14 boys said to have happened while he was a teacher at South End Junior School and a leader at Park Road Methodist Church youth group.

Yesterday (Thursday, January 16) the final one of 14 of Gould’s alleged victims, Witness N, appeared in the witness box to give evidence about what happened to him.

His family had long-standing connections to Gould but he said in court he ‘hardly knew him’ at the time of the first assault.

Witness N said that he had been about ten years old and Gould had taken him to a concert, before bringing him back to his house to stay the night.

He said he got into bed in a room in Gould’s house with a single bed in it, but before he went to sleep, Gould slipped into the room and got into bed with him.

"He started cuddling me and kissing me,” said the witness, who said he was was then sexually assaulted by the defendant.

Some time later the boy was at another house when Gould came to stay. He again got into bed with the boy and this time he raped him.

Witness N said that Gould had used a condom but he didn’t know what it was at the time.

"I thought it was a balloon,” he said.

Gould told the boy that he loved him.

"How did you feel?” asked prosecutor Claire Howell.

"Scared,” he replied.

On another occasion Gould came to visit Witness N’s house and, despite being offered the sofa, opted to stay in the boy’s bed with him.

He sexually assaulted him. When they awoke in the morning, Gould again assaulted him.

In 1987 as a teen Witness N’s stepsister fell pregnant and it emerged that he had been committing incest with her, as well as accusations he had assaulted his other siblings. He was taken to a police station and it was there he first made disclosures about Gould.

He said he hadn’t thought that he was doing anything wrong with his sister because of ‘what was going on with him’. (Gould)

Gould was never prosecuted for the 1987 accusations made by Witness N but the following year he was imprisoned for other incidents of sexual abuse at South End Juniors.

Under cross examination, barrister James Gray asked Witness N whether he had made up the allegations about Gould in order to ‘excuse his own behaviour.’

“No,” he said.

The previous day (Wednesday, January 15) the court had heard from another man, Witness M, who went to South End Junior School.

Giving evidence, Witness M said that he would put the equipment away after football practice with another schoolfriend.

On one particular occasion he said he remembered that it was raining so Gould told them to get changed out of their wet clothes before they went home.

Witness M said: “He called us into the storage cupboard in the classroom to get changed.

"Initially he stayed outside but then he came in and touched me through my pants with his hand.”

Gould told the boy that he was checking his pants were dry.

He wept as he told of a time when he was asked to go up to the front of the classroom to sit on Gould’s lap. Gould pulled him to the back of his lap and the boy could feel his genitals through his trousers.

"It made me feel extremely uncomfortable,” he said.

He also described how Gould would make some of the boys get changed for swimming separately, in the pool’s boiler room where he could watch them through a window.

On one occasion Witness M said that Gould changed with them, and stood there ‘completely naked’.

“I remember it happening a couple of times,” he said. “And I made sure I never went in again.”

He said how he had also been friends with Witness L, who yesterday we reported had died after disclosing that he had been ‘raped by Robert Gould.’

In around 1996 the pair met up and had a discussion about what Gould had done to them and disclosed to each other the extent of the abuse.

The pair had also told Witness M’s mother some of what what was going on, but she told them that they were being mean.

Under cross examination, barrister James Gray said Gould denies all the allegations against him.

He said: “He says you’re not telling the truth.”

"I’m absolutely telling the truth,” said Witness M.

"You sure you’re not here to support your friend?”

"No, absolutely not.”

A statement was read to the court from a teacher at South End Junior School who worked with Gould from 1980 until 1988 when he left after being convicted of child abuse. The same teacher then stayed at the school until 2008.

He described a moment when he walked into Gould’s classroom and saw him with a boy who had his shorts down.

Gould had spotted his colleague as he entered the room and said to the boy: “Nothing to worry about, pull them up now.”

The teacher said that he had reported the incident to the headteacher.

"I was worried he had got himself into a position where he’d be accused of something,” he said.

After Gould left the school the two men continued to exchange Christmas cards.

Gould, of Wellingborough Road, Rushden, denies all the charges against him. The court has now heard from all the prosecution witnesses including the 14 alleged victims. Today (Friday) Gould is expected to give evidence in his own defence.

The trial continues.