A high school teacher from Caerphilly has been cleared of rape by jurors at Molde Crown Court. Jack Crosse, 33, had been accused of sexually assaulting two women at a boozy party held at the gym he attended, the Willpower Weightlifting Club in Pontypool, in December 2019. At a previous trial in May 2022, he was cleared of raping one of the women, but subsequently had to face a retrial on allegations against the second alleged victim.
Crosse, a maths teacher at Llanishen High School in Cardiff, was accused of enticing the young woman into a storeroom at the gym, where he allegedly raped her.
The court heard the gym had been turned into a makeshift bar and dance floor and Crosse was described by those who attended the party as “intoxicated” and acting in a “sexually inappropriate way”.
Crosse denied he had raped the woman and insisted the sex had been consensual.
He told the court that afterwards the pair had gone back to the party but did not speak to one another again.
Crosse said he had not want to come across as “clingy”, adding that the woman appeared to be “really happy.
Asked by his barrister whether he found it odd that they didn’t speak afterwards, he replied: “I did. My intention was to just leave the ball in her court.
“I just saw it as some casual fun.”
Crosse admitted he was “six-out-of-ten” drunk, having consumed six or seven Jack Daniel’s and Cokes during the night.
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He added: “I was fairly merry.”
Asked if he lured the woman away and forced her to have sex with him Crosse replied: “No.”
After deliberating for five hours and 17 minutes, the jury acquitted the defendant on two counts of rape.
Following the not guilty verdict, Judge Niclas Parry told Crosse he was free to leave the dock and thanked the jury for their service.
