A 16-YEAR-OLD girl was left confused, scared and worried after teacher Alexander Thomas groped her in a whirlpool bath, Swindon Crown Court heard yesterday.

The girl was giving evidence as a victim in the trial of Thomas, 30, who is charged with five counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity while in a position of trust and two counts of sexual activity with a child in a position of trust.

Thomas, of Queen Elizabeth Drive in Taw Hill, denies all the charges.

The alleged victim was a sixth form student of Thomas’ from September 2010 until June 2011.

In evidence yesterday she alleged Thomas had begun contacting her via Facebook and Blackberry Messenger after her course ended.

She said over the course of June 2011, Thomas had met her at a leisure centre on two occasions and on the second he touched her in a whirlpool bath.

In and around these meetings he had allegedly requested nude photos of her and videos of her performing sexual acts and had sent images of himself nude.

“He messaged me on Facebook and said we could have fun together, with a winky face,” she said. “In my mind it didn’t register as flirting. I don’t know what I thought.

“I probably did have a bit of a crush on him. I didn’t like the attention, but I didn’t know how to respond. I have never been in that position before.

“He said I couldn’t tell anyone about the messages because his job depended on it.”

In their Blackberry exchanges, the girl allegedly told Thomas she would be going to the leisure centre swimming pool and he replied with the same intention.

In that first meeting she said Thomas stroked the top of her leg and hip.

“I was so scared. I didn’t know what was happening. I didn’t know if I should be telling someone. I felt disgusting afterwards,” she said. “He said I was frigid because I wasn’t responding.”

On the second meeting, which had again come about through the girl’s messages on Blackberry Messenger, she alleges Thomas touched her when she joined him in the whirlpool bath and chose to sit next to him.

She said Thomas had moved her hand to his lap and later he also allegedly tugged at the bottom of her bikini in the sauna.

“I felt a lot of things: confused, scared and worried,” she said. “I didn’t know what was going to happen. “I didn’t know if he was going to try and have sex with me.

“I was adamant I didn’t want to do that. I was thinking what am I going to do if he wants to have sex with me?”

The girl said in the final days of their messaging in early July 2011, she asked to meet Thomas, though he declined and said they should not be doing what they were doing.

She alleges Thomas said it was wrong because he was nearly 10 years older than her and could face the sack if found out.

l The trial continues