Stewart appeared at Canterbury Crown Court

by Paul Hooper

A former Canterbury church worker has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a schoolboy boy more than 10 years ago.

Peter Stewart, 39, groomed the youngster when he attended confirmation classes in Canterbury.

A jury at Canterbury Crown Court found Stewart, a primary school teacher now living in Hampshire, guilty on four charges of indecent assault.

Judge Adele Williams remanded him in custody until September pending probation reports.

judge scolds barrister for defence 'inaccuracies'

stewart's defence barrister received a dressing down from the trial judge for "crossing the line”.stella reynolds, in her final address to the jury, had told them: "all i ask on (my client's) behalf is you arrive at a decision that you can live with. not just tomorrow but in a year's time.. that you can still put your hand on your heart and say: 'i can still live with that.'."but judge williams rapped her over the knuckles for making inaccuracies in her speech.she added: "it is, in my judgment, improper to refer as you did on three occasions of consequences to the defendant, by saying 'ruin a man's life'."any reference to consequence to a defendant as you know is really not permissible. it (your speech) crossed a line.the barrister replied: "forgive me if i crossed a line. i have never been pulled up for that in the 28 years i have practiced."the judge retorted: "i find that astonishing!"

miss reynolds, who is with 15, new bridge street chambers, writes on her website: "she has vast experience in rape and other serious sexual assault and is skilled in dealing with vulnerable, especially child witnesses."

Prosecutor John Keal said Stewart is suspended from his primary school job and has faced disciplinary action regarding inappropriate behaviour with other young children.

The Canterbury assaults happened in the 1990s while Stewart was a "pastoral assistant" looking after youngsters on special religious courses.

His victim told the court how Stewart had used his authority to encourage touching and kissing.

On one occasion the boy visited Stewart's home near the Simple Simon Pub in Canterbury when he urged him to take part in sex play.

The court heard how Stewart had used emotional blackmail - saying that if "he trusted him" he should prove it by kissing.

The boy thought the kissing was a one-off but Stewart began taking his victim into the toilets in the church during confirmation classes.

When they were alone together in the prayer room, Stewart asked if his victim was "turned on" by kissing and then touched him indecently.

The victim told the jury: "After I thought about it, the next confirmation class I told him that I wasn't comfortable with the idea of kissing him.

"Later he split the group up into pairs and fixed it so I would go with him. We went into the resource room and he locked the door.

"The conversation was about trust and he kept asking me if I trusted him.

"I kept on saying yes and then he said something more about kissing and then he mentioned taking our shirts off.

"I said 'totally no' and he acted all upset about this and walked out."

The victim added that he felt guilty about upsetting his friend and so he remained after class to sort it out.

"It turned out with me laying on the floor and Pete laying on top of me with our arms around each other.

"He said: 'Do you trust me?' I said: 'Yes'. Then he said: 'Do you love me?' and I said: 'Yes'. He said 'Prove it.'

"So I kissed him thinking it was only time it was going to happen."

After Stewart left the area the two only met once more when the victim went to see a production of Oklahoma in London.

Stewart denied having any sexual relationship with the schoolboy.