Mother caught scout leader abusing son, court told

Ian Silvester, 60, denies 83 charges of historic abuse over a 30-year period

A mother has told a court of how she found a former cub scout leader allegedly abusing her eight-year-old son at their home.

Ian Silvester, 60, of Locks Hill, Portslade, denies 83 charges of historic abuse in Hove and Worthing over a 30-year period.

The trial at Lewes Crown Court heard how Mr Silvester sexually abused 19 children, aged as young as seven.

The court heard evidence from one of his alleged victims on Wednesday.

In a written statement, the boy’s mother said she allowed Mr Silvester to run a children's first aid class from her spare bedroom in 1992.

"I took a cup of tea up as a ruse. When I entered the room I was confronted by the sight of my child with just his underpants on,” it said.

The alleged victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court: "At one point, my mum walked in and he had me on the floor, and I was just in my undies.

"He used to hoick them up like a G-string, and he wrote stuff on little labels to tell me what my body parts were."

He said the accused also once "pushed his crotch into my face".

"He would pull my underpants quite far down", he said, adding he would also "brush" his private parts.

'Jungle treatment'

During cub scout meetings, Mr Silvester would pin children down and run his hands over their bodies, which he called "jungle treatment", the court heard.

Lee Webbon, then a 17-year-old scout leader, told the court: "He was straddling them. His knees would be either side, on their arms, pinned down so they couldn’t wriggle out.

"A lot of the children laughed to the point where they couldn’t breathe, but some I imagine weren’t happy at the time, but nobody was screaming.

"It would only go on for a minute, but afterwards he would look quite flushed or quite hot."

The trial continues.