A JURY has heard how there was “a real lack of record-keeping” and “no safeguarding policy in place” in the Methodist church in Cornwall, during a period when the person in charge is accused of carrying out sexual offences against several women.

Former Methodist minister Steven Wild faces 11 charges relating to alleged sexual offences against five women between 2004 and 2019.

The jury at Truro Crown Court heard how Mr Wild, who is now 72 and lives in St Ives, was “the person with overall responsibility for safeguarding in the district because he was chair of the district”.

David Cross, who was appointed district safeguarding officer for Cornwall in 2019, agreed with this assertion by prosecution barrister Brian Fitzherbert. Mr Cross confirmed a “scoping audit” for safeguarding in the Cornish district coincided with his appointment, followed by a full safeguarding review by a safeguarding officer from another district.

Mr Fitzherbert asked: “Did you become aware of a real lack of record-keeping?” Mr Cross replied: “Very much so,” adding: “There was no safeguarding policy in place and no safeguarding history.”

He also agreed that some people, when discussing Mr Wild’s “tactile behaviour”, described it as “just Steve being Steve”.

Mr Cross confirmed he wrote a report and a time came when Mr Wild was suspended, and a review was carried out to take accounts from witnesses and Mr Wild himself, after which he returned to his post but with management of safeguarding removed.

It was during an online session for safeguarding training that Mr Cross met the fifth and final complainant in the case, who disclosed her concerns in private afterwards and was willing to make a formal complaint. Mr Wild was suspended again in July 2021.

That complainant gave testimony this morning, describing how she attended an event at which Mr Wild was a keynote speaker, and at lunchtime he invited her to take an empty seat next to him.

Asked by prosecution barrister Brian Fitzherbert what happened next, she said: “The first thing I noticed was his left hand on my right knee. I found it really uncomfortable.” She added: “He moved his hand from my knee to the top of my thigh, underneath my skirt.”

Asked how she felt, she replied: “It was like the room had slowed down. There were hundreds of thoughts going through my head … Can anyone see this? That was silly because it was under the table. Is anyone going to stop this?

“I shuffled my leg to the left to my seat, away from where Steven Wild was sitting. His hand stayed where it was, and he gripped tighter. In the end I crossed my right leg over my left leg and his hand fell away.”

She added: “I was frightened - I assumed if I said something, I would lose my job.”

The complainant recalled an occasion a few years later when she met Mr Wild at a meeting. She said: “It was like he was suddenly there at my right-hand side. His left hand was in the small of my back. His right hand was around my body, below my shoulder and above my breast.

“He pushed right into my right thigh. I could feel his crotch against the top of my leg. He leant right into my ear and said – I could feel his breath on my neck, I could smell his breath.

“I felt frozen. I felt pinned against the wall. Again, everything slowed down and I didn’t know how to escape.” She claims she eventually took herself out of the room: “I was tearful. I could feel myself beginning to cry and I wanted to go home.”

Asked by the prosecution if she had ever been told “That’s just Steve being Steve,” she replied: “I was told that, yes.” Asked how this had affected her decision to make a complaint, she added: “I didn’t think they would believe me. I thought they would ignore my concerns. My line manager said it was ‘in his DNA’.”

On a third occasion, she claimed Mr Wild whispered in her ear at a forum. “I was aware he had come in and was right behind me. With one movement, he put his arm around me and put his hand in the same position as before.” His face was “right up close to my ear. He said he’d heard talk about my personal plans.”

Mr Wild’s defence barrister, Heather Hope, suggested this was to “congratulate” her on an event in her personal life. “It felt more like ‘I know stuff about you’,” replied the complainant.

The defence also questioned male witnesses about their statements to the police. Ms Hope said Mr Cross described meeting with Mr Wild face-to-face in a room with chairs, saying: “In the course of a conversation, once or more than once, he leant forward and rested his hand on my left leg above my knee.” She added: “It was there for a period of time that you thought, and others might have found, not particularly comfortable.”

Tim Carter, head of safeguarding at the Methodist church in 2021, was asked to recall an occasion when he was going up a London staircase and encountered Mr Wild coming down. “He put his hands on my shoulders and kissed me on the forehead,” he told the jury.

The afternoon concluded with the prosecution barrister and DS Becky Carvell reading aloud transcripts of interviews held with Mr Wild at Camborne Police Station in 2022 and 2023.

When asked if he derived “sexual gratification” from an incident, he replied: “Good grief, no.” He added: “This has really shocked me. I feel in shock at what I’ve just heard.”

As each accusation was explained to him, he repeatedly replied in the negative, using phrases including: “I do not recall that” and “That never happened.”

He attributed using the word “love” to his Northern roots, and explained that the nature of evangelism often involved “kneeling, praying and touching”.

Regarding whispering in the fifth complainant’s ear, said: “I never whisper to people. What do I need to whisper about?

The trial will continue on Thursday morning, when the emphasis is expected to move to the defence.