A monk accused of abuse at a leading Catholic boarding school would wear his habit while he became sexually aroused on a bed, a court has been told.

Michael Callaghan, who is now 71, denies multiple charges against a boy at Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire in the 1990s, and one charge against a second boy years later.

On the first day of his trial at Teesside Crown Court, a video-recorded interview with the first complainant was played for the jury in which the man outlined the encounters involving Callaghan, who was a housemaster at the famous school.

It is alleged Callaghan, of Kingsway Court, Harrogate Road, Moortown, kissed the boy on multiple occasions, grabbed him by his bottom, made him rub his penis and even made the boy bite Callaghan’s penis through his clothing.

Michael Callaghan was a monk at Ampleforth College and is facing multiple allegations of sexual abuse against two pupils. | National World

Known to the pupils at Father James, it is alleged he forced the boy to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while pretending to have a heart attack, and would make him sit astride and simulate sex.

The complainant said Callaghan would lay on a bed and make the boy get on top of him while they were both fully clothed.

He said it would it would “go on for an hour at a time”, and that he could feel Callaghan’s erect penis through his clothing - jeans and a traditional monk habit.

Asked how it made him feel, the complainant - who cannot be named for legal reasons - said he had a “vivid imagination” and would pretend it was not Callaghan he was with.

Prosecuting the case, Mark McKone KC had earlier said that the boy had been “made to feel special” by Callaghan, who would take him on outings in his car, would take him shopping in York and for pub lunches.

Quoting the complainant to the jury, Mr McKone said: “I was in a really bad place, going through hell at school 200 miles-plus from my nearest family. I hated the sexual bit of it. If possible, I would just avoid it.”

Callaghan faces 12 counts of indecent assault against the boy, four of which are from when he was under 16, with the rest between the age of 16 and 18.

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There is also a single count of sexual touching of a 17-year-old boy in 2013, in which it was claimed Callaghan touched his bottom.

The boy said he was followed by Callaghan after a meeting and grabbed and hugged by him, then felt his hand “tightly grip” his bottom.

The boy, who made a written complaint to Ampleforth College in August 2024, said he “froze” and was “shocked”.

The first alleged victim was interviewed in December 2022 and again in December 2023.

The trial continues and is expected to last a week.

Leeds monk would wear his habit while abusing boy on a bed at Ampleforth College, court told