Housekeeper at Caithness lodge felt ‘scared and nervous’ after being asked to perform alleged sex act on employer, Wick Sheriff Court hears

A Filipino woman has told a court she felt “scared and nervous” after she went to work as a housekeeper at a remote Caithness lodge.

The 40 year-old said she was required to give Kevin Booth massages while he only had a towel or handkerchief covering his private parts.

RELATED:

New trial date for Caithness man over alleged sexual offences

KC to help challenge sex charges denied by Caithness man

Caithness man denies sex charge

He would, she said, give her ratings and several times asked her to perform a sex act on him.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was giving evidence at Wick Sheriff Court at the trial of 64-year-old Booth.

He has pleaded not guilty to directing a sexual communication towards her without her consent, asking her intimate questions and offering her money to engage in sexual activity.

It is alleged this took place between August 8 and December 9, 2022 at Loch Dhu Lodge, Altnabreac.

The woman, who gave her evidence via a video link, said she was living in the Phillipines when she responded to a Facebook job advert.

The mother-of-three had been a nanny in Kuwait before moving to the UK.

After a Skype interview, she accepted the offer to work at Loch Dhu.

Asked by fiscal Martina Eastwood what the job entailed, she said it was a housekeeper.

The contract she signed included giving Booth massages.

After she arrived, her first impression was that Booth and his partner were 'kind people.'

She said Booth asked for his first massage two days after her husband drove her north to start work at the Victorian shooting lodge.

The massages were expected once or twice a week and took place in the office or a private room.

She said Booth would be naked apart from a towel or hankerchief covering his genitals.

The woman said he would mark her for how well she did.

"It was usually a seven out of 10. Sometimes an eight out of 10."

Asked by the fiscal if Booth said anything else, she said: "He would say things like my hand has electricity.

"I started recording (with her mobile phone) after he started to get naughty when I was giving him a massage."

She said she had kept her husband informed and he had advised her to start recording the activity

"I was worried that he might do something to me," she told the court.

The woman said that on one occasion, Booth asked her to perform a sex act when they were at the pool within the lodge.

This was followed by several similar requests, which she also recorded.

She said: “He offered me extra payment if I would do [what he asked].'

"How did that make you feel?" asked Ms Eastwood.

"I told him not do that because he was my employer," the woman replied.

"I felt fear in my chest but I tried my best not to show it."

On one occasion, Booth said she would be paid extra 'if there was a happy ending.'

She told him: "No thank you."

The woman said Booth had asked her about the size of her first husband's genitalia.

She said: "I can't really explain how I felt but it made me scared and nervous."

The trial continues.