Parish councillor's child abuse trial continues (From Ledbury Reporter)

Parish councillor's child abuse trial continues

4:25pm Monday 21st January 2013 in News

A HEREFORDSHIRE parish councillor told a young boy working on his farm that he should be proud of his private parts, a court heard today.

Michael Allfrey, 70, allowed the youngster to work on his farm at Storridge, giving him jobs including collecting eggs and feeding animals.

But the mother of one of his alleged victims told Hereford Crown Court that her son confided in her saying Allfrey had said to him: “You should be proud of your penis as one day it will give you a family.”

He also told her Allfrey had put his hand over his genitals.
 

On one occasion she said the defendant had smacked her son on the bottom because he was “showing off to his friends”.
 

“At first I got on fine with him (Allfrey); I thought he was alright,” the mother said to prosecutor Jonas Hankin.
 

“He asked if my son would like to go and help out on the farm.
“I thought he would enjoy it.”
 

The defendant is a churchwarden and member of Storridge Parish Council.
 

He denies sexually touching six boys aged nine to 14 between 2005 and 2011.
 

Another mother said her own son had referred to Allfrey as “a pervert”.
“He seemed very angry when mentioning Mr Allfrey,” she said. “He told me that Allfrey had put his hand in-between his legs.
 

“He said it happened on two occasions.”
 

In total, Allfrey is charged with 11 counts of sexual assault and four counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
 

The trial continues.