Timothy Croot: WA teacher on trial accused of inappropriately touching female student

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Timothy Croot: WA teacher on trial accused of inappropriately touching female student

A WA teacher on trial accused of multiple **** ******* against a student got an “ego boost” from the teen paying him attention, a court has been told.

Timothy Croot admits he inappropriately touched the teenager 11 times over a one-month *******, pleading guilty to the offences before his District Court trial.

But he denies a further six allegations including that he touched her genitals and encouraged her to touch his.

His lawyer Simon Freitag told the jury his client was responsible for his own behaviour and that was why he pleaded guilty to some of the charges but denied the 14-year-old’s version of events.

He also asked them to consider the “believability” of the teen’s evidence in relation to the offences he was contesting saying some of the alleged incidents were said to have taken place on a bus filled with other students and teachers.

“Where there are allegations said to have taken place on school bus, ask yourself if those things are believable. Apply common sense,” Mr Freitag said.

He told the jury his client did share personal information with the teen, such as details regarding his wife and baby and that she too divulged what was going on in her life.

He said to the jury they might think those conversations were more than normal student-teacher conversations adding he expected his client would tell them why he did what he did.

“He liked the way she talked to him,” Mr Freitag added. “The ego boost he got from her paying him attention.”

Camera IconTimothy Croot is on trial for inappropriately touching a student. Credit: Unknown/Supplied

The court was told Mr Croot admitted he used his water bottle and “tapped” the teen’s hip and backside twice.

He also admitted to bumping her with his hip on the same occasion.

Mr Freitag said his client brushed his hand across her back for a couple of seconds but denied he touched her for 20 minutes as the prosecution alleges.

Once he told her that her hair “smelled nice” but Mr Freitag said that was in the context of him playing sport and that he was “sweaty”.

He also admitted to touching the girl’s backside four times while they were alone in his classroom but he denied he grabbed her hips and squeezed her behind.

Mr Freitag said on that occasion his client did say to the girl that she needed to leave because he didn’t want things to go too far because he didn’t want to kiss her.

“That was him drawing a line,” he told the jury. “He said he didn’t want to kiss her to make it real.”

Mr Freitag said his client denied he touched the girl on her genitals or that he encouraged he to touch his saying some of those allegations were said to have taken place on a bus while others took place while the class was on an excursion that had been recorded on CCTV.

He said his client accepted what he did was wrong but added there were “differences” between the version of events in relation to the offences he admitted to.

In her child witness interview which was played to the court, the teen revealed she confided in a fellow classmate what she claimed took place and that friend told her “how ****** it was”.

When asked how she felt about what allegedly took place, the girl said it made her feel uncomfortable.

The trial continues.

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