Nicholas Michael Board trial: Former SA teacher showed coercive behaviour after alleged sex abuse, witness claims

A teacher who allegedly abused a girl ‘so drunk she couldn’t walk straight’ continued to exert ‘power’ over her after the incident, her friend has told a court.

A teacher who allegedly groomed a girl for sex displayed “flirtatious and coercive” behaviour toward her, in public, after abusing her while she was heavily intoxicated, a court has heard.

This week, the District Court heard evidence from a close friend of the girl allegedly abused by former Willunga Waldorf School teacher Nicholas Michael Board.

The friend – who cannot be named in order to protect the girl’s identity – said he received a Snapchat call from her within minutes of the alleged incident.

“I could tell it was dark and she was outside walking … (I could) barely (see her face) because it was dark,” he said.

“She said ‘it’s really bad, I’m walking back from Nick’s house, me and him had sex’ … (she was) distressed and intoxicated, just, like, very panicked facial features.

“At some points she would stumble over her words and she also said, at one point, that she was drunk.”

The friend said that, some time after the call, he saw the girl in Mr Board’s company.

“I observed closeness, I guess a flirtatious demeanour that was kind of coercive … I observed there was definitely a sense of more power being displayed by him,” he said.

Nicholas Michael Board has pleaded not guilty. Picture: Sean Fewster

Mr Board’s job was terminated within days of the alleged abuse being reported. Picture: Sean Fewster

Mr Board, 41, of Mount Barker Springs, has pleaded not guilty to one count each of unlawful sexual intercourse, indecent assault and aggravated assault.

He has also pleaded not guilty to communicating with the intent to make a child amenable to sexual activity.

Prosecutors have alleged his relationship with the girl was “not an innocent one”, and that he began supplying her with alcohol to “ensure her submission”.

They have further alleged he engaged in sexualised chats with her and frequently invited her to his then-home at night, where the abuse allegedly occurred.

The court has heard Willunga Waldorf School students learned of the alleged incident and told staff, and that Mr Board was suspended three days later and fired eight days later.

In cross-examination, Peter Morrison, for Mr Board, suggested to the friend that his evidence at trial did not match his original statement to SA Police.

He suggested the girl had said, prior to the alleged incident, she “wanted to have sex with Mr Board” and that, on Snapchat, had said she “kissed” Mr Board and “was happy”.

He suggested the friend was “still trying to help” the girl through his answers in court.

The friend agreed the girl had discussed having sex with Mr Board, but rejected the rest of Mr Morrison’s suggestions.

“I feel like I’m trying to tell the truth without having words put in my mouth,” he replied.

The trial, before Judge Nick Alexandrides and in the absence of a jury, will resume in April.