A COUNCIL team leader has told jurors he was being Christian when he touched a woman’s leg and tried to kiss her in her bedroom.

Peter Brown, of Oxfordshire County Council’s roads and transport department, is accused of groping the woman on her bed after coming to fix her en suite shower.

But the 56-year-old, also chairman of his village parish council for more than 20 years, denies the sexual assault and claims he only squeezed the unnamed woman’s leg to comfort her.

He took to the witness stand yesterday and told Oxford Crown Court jurors: “There was no sexual intent there.

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“It was merely a comforting gesture.”

The alleged victim told jurors last week Brown had behaved inappropriately and got too close to her in the months before the incident in September 2011. But Brown, of Drayton near Banbury, said he was trying to be a friend to the woman and support her.

He said he offered to fix her shower the day before he left on a month-long Christian mission to help build schools in Zambia.

But he said after doing the DIY job he set off the woman’s sex toy accidently when he sat down on her bed.

The married dad-of-three then said the woman started talking openly about her sex life and how lonely she felt.

He said he touched her leg and moved to kiss her on the cheek before she put her hands around his throat and pushed him away.

Brown said: “I was quite disturbed having a long sexual conversation with her.

“I was quite disturbed for her and I wanted her to know someone cared for her.

“She is a human being and my Christian upbringing and my Christian faith tell me I should be helping others.”

He added: “I admit I made a mistake even thinking about kissing her.”

The churchgoer said he had found the conversation about the woman’s sex life interesting. He said: “It was outside of my experience, outside of my radar.

“I certainly don’t get any bondage at home nor do I want any bondage at home.”

But prosecutor Robert Spencer-Bernard, in cross-examination, said he did not accept Brown’s version of events.

He said: “I suggest you did more than put your hand on her thigh. You put your hands up her back and her front and started fondling her breasts.”

Brown denied it, adding: “I never wanted a sexual relationship with her.”

But Mr Spencer-Bernard said: “What you did was to force yourself on her sexually and you knew perfectly well that you were doing wrong and she didn’t want it.

“Over the months you had been testing her – some would say grooming her.”

Brown said: “I did not force myself on her sexually. There was no intention of having sex or anything.

“There was no intention to groom her. I am a happily married man.”

The trial continues.

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