Former teacher, Peter Samuel, 92, faces court charged with indecently assaulting 11yo student in 1971
A former primary school teacher, aged 92, has faced court for the first time charged with indecently assaulting an 11-year-old boy at a Mosman school in 1971.
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An elderly Central Coast man has faced Wyong Local Court charged with a historic indecent assault offence against a student on Sydney’s North Shore.
Peter Mervyn Samuel, of Chain Valley Bay, represented himself when his matter was mentioned briefly on Wednesday.
The court heard the Director of Public Prosecutions had elected to take carriage of the matter from the police prosecutor given the nature of the allegation.
Magistrate Elizabeth Ellis described the charge as “very serious” and noted the historic nature of the allegation.
“I think you need to get some extra evidence, do you agree with that?” she asked Mr Samuel.
He replied “yes” before telling the court his request for Legal Aid had been rejected.
Ms Ellis ordered a brief of evidence be served on Mr Samuel before adjourning the matter to January 19.
“This is a very serious charge, when you get all the statements from police I think you need to get some legal advice,” Ms Ellis told Mr Samuel.
Mr Samuel’s appearance comes after detectives from North Shore Police Area Command commenced an investigation in March 2019 into reports a Year 6 boy was indecently assaulted by a teacher in 1971.
Following inquiries, police arrested Mr Samuel at a retirement village at Chain Valley Bay about 7.45am on Friday, October 2.
He was taken to Wyong Police Station and charged with indecent assault on a male.
Police will allege in court that the man indecently assaulted the boy — then aged 11 — in the classroom of a school at Mosman.
Mr Samuel was granted bail to appear at court on Wednesday where his bail was continued.