Medieval society leader ‘encircled’ women in cloak to molest them
THE leading light of a medieval re-enactment society used his long flowing cloak to encircle women before sexually assaulting them, a court has heard.
Trevor Pilling, who was described as a pillar of his community, is accused of groping eight women during his time with the Buckinghamshire-based Lion Rampant Medieval Display Society.
The married 78-year-old would wrap his costume cloak around his victims before cupping their breasts, Aylesbury Crown Court was told.
The alleged assaults often took place during rehearsals, but he was also accused of molesting members of the society in hotels and in their homes.
Kim Preston, prosecuting, said Mr Pilling’s crimes were only exposed when some of his victims told his daughter who reported him to police.
The jury was told that Mr Pilling often “encircled” women with his large medieval cloak during re-enactments so he could cup their breasts. “It is something he later did quite regularly and it had even been known as ‘encircling’,” she said.
The jury heard that another assault involved him performing oral sex on a teenage girl in an empty hotel lounge.
Ms Preston said Mr Pilling had been a “significant member” of the society and was “held in quite high regard in his community”.
She said: “He used his position and used that charismatic trusted role, in different ways on a number of different women over the years. He took advantage of the circumstances to take advantage of particular types of women – particularly those that were in a vulnerable part of their life, or physically vulnerable.”
She said Mr Pilling gained such a reputation that by the mid-nineties female members of the group began to warn each other not to be left alone with him or be encircled by his cloak.
It was claimed Mr Pilling would also carry out sexual assaults during “crystal healing treatments” at his house.
The court heard that Mr Pilling’s daughter was so sickened by her father’s behaviour that when the women told her of his alleged crimes, she reported him to the police.
Mr Pilling of Chesham, Bucks denies 12 counts of indecent and sexual assaults on eight women between 1982 and 2007. The trial continues.