Ex-British Airways pilot 'sought out underage boys'
A former British Airways pilot used his job to meet underage boys, a jury heard.
Bartle Frere is accused of arranging or facilitating the commission of child sex offences against boys in India, as well as abusing two boys in the UK.
Bournemouth Crown Court heard the 50-year-old met boys from the sub-continent in hotels and lavished them with money and gifts, such as iPhones.
Mr Frere denies a total of 25 sex charges.
'Bangkok boys' search
A computer seized at his former home in Dorset in November revealed six years of online contact between the former pilot - who no longer works for British Airways - and teenage boys in India, the jury was told.
Prosecutor Elisabeth Bussey-Jones read out some of the messages Mr Frere had sent boys in India, including "I want a hug and have a bath with you and cuddle you in bed".
She said: "The conversations indicate Mr Frere was meeting these boys during the course of his role as a British Airways (BA) pilot and flying to various locations, including India."
The court heard Mr Frere was arrested on 10 November 2013 when he returned to the UK from taking a BA flight to Bangkok.
Before landing in Thailand he had typed into search engines on his smartphone "Where do you pick up underage boys in Bangkok?", the court was told.
Mr Frere is accused of five offences of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, which relates to his alleged conduct with boys in India.
He is also charged with five counts of indecent assault; one count of indecency with a child and two charges of serious sexual offences in relation to one of the boys from the UK.
With regard to the second UK boy, he is charged with one count of sexual activity with a child and one charge of attempting to record a person doing a private act.
The defendant also faces six charges of possessing indecent photographs of a child and four charges of making indecent photographs of a child.
The court heard that the two alleged British victims did odd jobs at Mr Frere's home.
The trial continues.