A boy in a children’s home run by Richmond Council was told to take off his clothes so a Catholic priest could pleasure himself over him, a court has heard.

The alleged victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told Southwark Crown Court this morning he was taken from Grafton Close children’s home in Hanworth, on the edge of Whitton, to a house in Bexhill where he was abused by Father Tony McSweeney.

Mr McSweeney, 68, is currently on trial accused of indecent assaults of young boys in the 1970s and 1980s and possessing indecent images of children.

Mr McSweeney was a friend of the manager of the children’s home John Stingemore, who died last month.

The alleged victim told the court he and another boy, Peter Bornshin, who has since committed suicide, were taken to Mr Stingemore’s home in Bexhill on several occasions because they were his "favourites".

From Monday: Catholic priest's cleaner 'found indecent video'

From Tuesday: 'Priest ogled schoolboy in shower'

On the second visit to the home, the alleged victim claims they were told to "shower and dress up to impress".

He told the court: "We went back in to the front room and Peter was told to go upstairs. I could hear cries and screams but couldn’t say what was going on.

"John was with me at the time [but] he disappeared and left the dog there. Peter came down and he looked quite upset. You could tell he had been crying and he seemed he was not his usual self."

The man told the jury he was told to go upstairs by Mr Stingemore and once he got there, he found Mr McSweeney naked and was told to take his clothes off.

The alleged victim said: "To begin with it was just the top and trousers and then I was told to take my pants off. Then I was told to lie on the floor by Tony.

"How can I put it - I was only a kid. I didn't know what masturbating was but he came all over me.

"It was not long but then John came up and he had is hand in his pocket. It felt to me he was getting off with it."

The court also heard Mr Stingemore gave the boy "mini medicals" and took photographs of him with no clothes.

The man said: "He would ask me to remove my clothes and put me on to a scale to measure my height and weight. That was the first time but it got gradually worse.

"There was a cot in the emergency room and he used to lay me down in the cot and he decided to put sellotape around my arms, legs, genitals and chest. He got quite excited taking it off really slowly.

"After a while he started to lay me on the bed and turned me on my stomach and touched me. It would be on my bottom and genitals.

"I didn't know what was right and wrong at the time. He pulled his penis out and rubbed it on my bottom."

In cross examination, Stephen Spence, defending said the alleged victim had made false allegations of a number of sexual assaults in the following years because he is "somebody who makes up stories to get people’s attention and make people feel sorry" for him.

Mr Spence said: "None of this happened, did it? You never went to Bexhill with Tony McSweeney and he never touched you or did anything to you, did he?"

The alleged victim responded: "he did".

Another witness, who lived at the children’s home, said he was also made to have a mini medical by Mr Stingemore and was told to take off his clothes while he produced a camera, the court heard.

But the man told the court he realised something was wrong so left the room.

He said: "I remember grabbing my clothes and putting them on as I was trying to get out the door. He said ‘there is no point mentioning this as no one will listen to you’.

"I remember coming out in the corridor and the gentleman sitting in the dock there was standing there and looked at me and raised his eyebrows as if to say ‘nobody will listen to you’."

Asked how often Mr McSweeney was at the home, the witness said he was under the impression he worked at the home as he "seemed to be there all the time" and was very "touchy feely" and "snugly" with the children.

The witness added: "As a professional person as I thought he was, there was an unnatural kind of thing between Mr McSweeney and the kids there."

The trial continues.