Abuse claims denied

The counsellor accused of sexually abusing seven troubled teenagers in his care in the early 90s has repeatedly told a jury he did not inappropriately touch any of the youngsters.

Allan Keith Huggins, 68, is facing 49 counts of sexual abuse spanning between April 1990 and April 1991, which allegedly took place in Albany, East Victoria Park and Mt Lawley.

Mr Huggins told the jury yesterday he had not abused the teenagers in any way.

The District Court jury has already been told Mr Huggins has a conviction for indecently dealing with a 15-year-old boy in Albany in 1991.

Mr Huggins resigned from the government Warminda program after he pleaded guilty to that offence.

But he said the current allegations were false, questioning why he would have referred some of the boys making allegations to a psychiatrist if he had been abusing them.