Vicar gave boys lager then groped them, court told

Stephen Oram was later cleared of this offence.

VICAR Stephen Oram served two boys strong lager at his vicarage before groping them in bed, a court was told.

The Church of England church man was based at St Anne's Church, Brislington, when he sexually abused the two lads, Bristol Crown Court heard.

When one lad told his mother he had been touched by the vicar, she didn't believe him.

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Oram, 53, of Ison Hill Road, Bristol, denies one indecent assault on one boy and two indecent assaults on another. It is alleged the lads were aged around 16 at the time.

Kenneth Bell, prosecuting, said the allegations came to light in February last year, after one of the boys made a further complaint against Oram.

The jury watched a DVD recording of an interview he gave to police concerning the alleged abuse.

He told an investigator: "He gave me high-strength lager, in a gold can with a red flash. As a teenager, that was amazing."

The lad told police he had downed the eight or nine per cent strong lager and remembered going to a toilet and losing his balance because he was drunk.

He said: "The next thing I remember is I was in bed. I don't know how I got there.

"I woke up in bed and I felt my (private parts) being fondled. I looked around and Stephen Oram had his hand in my boxer shorts and he was playing with me.

"I just sort of brushed him off."

The lad recalled the incident took place in a bedroom and he never stayed there again.

He said: "It was a double bed and I was laying on my back.

"All I had on was my boxer shorts. I don't know how I got undressed. I was on the right hand side of the bed and he was on my side of the bed."

The lad said, in the morning, Oram drove him home and stopped at a petrol station and bought him a Crunchie bar.

The complainant told police: "He said nothing to me about it and I've never spoken to him about it."

He said he had immediately told his mother, but she changed the subject and talked about something else.

He said that, even though a second lad later complained about Oram sexually abusing him, his mother had still not believed the abuse happened.

The court heard Oram, who is no longer a minister at St Anne's, gave the second boy strong lager, and he too woke up in a bed and found the vicar touching him inappropriately.

He also recalled how he was on a car trip with Oram, during which Matt Munro songs were playing, and Oram touched his leg and squeezed his hand which made him feel awkward.

The case continues.