A man has gone on trial accused of leaving a woman “scared and nervous” after allegedly making sexual advances towards her at his Highland home.
Kevin Booth, 65, is charged with directing “sexual communication” towards the woman, who is now 40.
The alleged offences are said to have taken place at Booth’s home at Lochdhu Lodge in Altnabreac, where he lived with his wife and young child, between 8 August 2022 and 9 December 2022.
Booth denies a charge of directing sexual communication to a woman without her consent for the purposes of his own gratification, contrary to the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009.
Wick Sheriff Court heard on Thursday that the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, found a job through a Facebook group and her contract included “cutting weeds” and providing massages to Booth.
She was driven several hundred miles to Booth’s home by her husband, and said she could not leave as she did not know where in Scotland she was and could not drive.
Giving evidence with the assistance of an interpreter, the woman said she was “surprised” Booth was naked for the massages except for a towel covering his “private parts”.
The massages were said to have taken place in Booth’s office or a “private room”, with the accused reportedly “rating” them out of 10 afterwards.
The woman said after one of the massages Booth offered her an “extra payment” to “spank” him.
On another occasion, he reportedly offered her additional money “if there was a happy ending”, and that he explained it to her when she asked him what it meant.
She said she refused these requests, telling him at one point that she had children, and adding she had not done anything to suggest she was “interested in discussing these kinds of things”.
The woman also claimed that at one point, the towel with which Booth covered himself during massages was replaced with a “handkerchief”.
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She said at her husband’s suggestion, she began to take video and audio recordings of the massages, with her phone tucked into her pocket, saying she acted after Booth had “started to become naughty” during the sessions.
She said: “I started recording because whenever the cover (fell) he asked me to pick it up and cover himself, and (said) it is not his job to cover himself.”
The woman described the effect Booth’s actions had on her, saying: “I am actually afraid, there is fear in my chest but I did my best not to show him.
“I was scared and nervous. I cannot really explain how I felt, but I was scared and nervous.”
She also claimed Booth had asked her intimate questions about her first husband, including about the size of his “manhood”.
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The trial, before Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald, continues.
