A WEST Dorset man accused of a string of child sex offences has admitted sending inappropriate emails to boys in India – but only to try and ‘shock’ them.

Bartle Frere, 50, from Shipton Gorge, is on trial at Bournemouth Crown Court accused of 25 child sex offences, including indecently assaulting two boys from West Dorset and arranging or facilitating the abuse of boys in India. He denies all charges.

Defending Frere, David Fisher QC read out a number of emails to the jury that Frere sent to boys in India.

In one, Frere wrote: “I’m often thinking of you. I want to hug you, I want to have a bath with you and cuddle you in bed.”

In other emails, Frere asked the boy to bring other boys the next time he was in India, asked them to send pictures of themselves, and said to one boy: “I can’t wait to discover what my surprise is, I’m hoping it’s a 13-year-old boy.”

Frere told the jury the first time he met one of the boys, he let him take a bath in his hotel room. Since that occasion, the boy was “badgering” him for another bath when he next visited, which he said made him feel uncomfortable and that he wanted the boy to realise what others might be thinking.

Frere said: “When I saw him in India, I was quite blunt and said there are men who will try and take advantage of you and people will think I am.

“He just didn’t get it, and I said it’s not a question of what is or isn’t happening; it’s what other people are thinking.

“I wrote these emails to try and shock him into realising what others would think and the situation from my point of view.”

Frere told the jury the times he said “I love you”, called the boys “beautiful” and “sexy” in the messages, was because it was a “cultural thing” to say in India.

The jury heard former pilot Frere visited the country on average once a month with British Airways, would spend about £200 per visit on gifts and food for the boys, and also paid some of their tuition fees.

He also admitted checking into a hotel using a fake name for a few hours with two boys, but only to kill time before they went shopping.

Frere was asked numerous times by his defence barrister if he ever inappropriately touched the boys, both from England and India, or if he was hoping to achieve a sexual relationship with them.

He replied: “No. Never at all.”

The trial continues.