Ex-teacher faces child sex allegations

by James Franklin

thewestonmercury

A FORMER school teacher will next week face a jury as he stands accused of sexually assaulting a teenage boy.

Keith Ruby, a former teacher and rugby coach at Sidcot School in Winscombe, has been charged with 20 counts of sexually assaulting the teenager, who was aged 12-14 at the time of the alleged offences.

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He will also stand trial for one charge of indecent assault and 13 counts of making indecent images of children.

The 36-year-old will appear at Taunton Crown Court on Tuesday to face all 34 charges, which he denies.

The charges include 12 counts of engaging in a non-penetrative sexual activity with a boy aged 13-15, five counts of engaging in penetrative sexual activity with a boy aged 13-15, two counts of causing or inciting a boy under 13 to engage in sexual activity and one count of engaging in a sexual activity with a child under 13.

Those 20 charges are all alleged to have been carried out against the same boy between December 31, 2004 and December 31, 2007.

He also faces one charge of indecent assault on a male, which is alleged to have happened between April 19, 1988 and April 21, 1993.

Ruby has also been charged with 13 counts of making 59 indecent images of children between January 1, 2008 and March 19, 2011.

The images are alleged to be categories one, two and four, with category four the second most serious classification of indecent image.

After being arrested in January this year, Ruby, of Biddisham Lane in Biddisham, was released on conditional bail ahead of the trial.

The trial is expected to last for two weeks.

* The trial start date has been changed from Monday to Tuesday by the court.

This article was written by James Franklin  and originally published on thewestonmercury