Schoolgirls 'told to bathe naked'

Howard Andrews is alleged to have committed offences over 13 years

Schoolgirls were told to bathe naked in a lake by an outdoor pursuits instructor, a court has heard.

Howard Andrews, 45, from Twineham, West Sussex, has pleaded not guilty at Exeter Crown Court to 18 serious sexual offences including rape.

The offences were allegedly committed between 1985 and 1998 in Sussex, Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Surrey and Switzerland.

The alleged incidents involved five girls and three boys.

Earlier a 23-year-old woman told the jury that between the ages of nine and 13 she took part in outdoor activities with an "Adventurers" club run by Andrews.

I thought it was fantastic, just like sharing a tent with your dad Alleged victim

She said: "He was like a father figure to me."

On one trip to a lake she and other girls washed naked in the water after Andrews told them "it was not hygienic if we did not".

She and another girl also spent several nights in the same tent as Andrews.

"I thought it was fantastic, just like sharing a tent with your dad," she said.

She said he also gave her and the other girl back massages.

Another witness, a former Surrey schoolboy, told the court he was indecently assaulted by Andrews during a walking holiday in Cornwall when he was about 13 years old.

He said Andrews performed a sex act on him one night in their tent and on a later occasion, when they were sharing a bed, performed a sex act on himself.

When he was older he realised what had happened was wrong, and had tried to "bury it," he said.

The trial continues.