A former college lecturer has told a jury that claims he sent sexual Snapchat images to two of his students are lies.
Lewis Bryan allegedly threatened not to submit one man’s crucial coursework to the SQA unless he sent him a video of him masturbating.
Bryan’s trial at Dundee Sheriff Court heard claims from a second man who alleged Bryan sent him sexual images.
Both men were still school pupils at the time they were taught by Bryan – who now works as a chef – at Dundee and Angus College’s Arbroath campus.
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Bryan, however, told the court that the allegations are untrue and that he never communicated indecently with the men.
Jurors previously heard claims that the “eccentric” Bryan would share intimate details about his personal life with students.
The court heard Bryan, 29, had also worked at Dundee’s victim support service around the time of the offence.
After being asked by defence solicitor Paul Parker-Smith if he would discuss personal matters with students, Bryan said: “It is correct to the extent of small talk.
“I was simply asked ‘do you have anyone special in your life?’ and I would say ‘yes’.
“Nothing seedy or inappropriate.”
Bryan answered “no” and “not at all” when he was repeatedly asked if he had sent the men indecent images and videos.
When cross-examining Bryan, fiscal depute Charmaine Gilmartin said: “This is all a pack of lies isn’t it?
“You sought out both these males, both vulnerable young boys in your class. You built up a relationship and then you sent them both images of your penis.”
Bryan responded: “I am saying none of this happened.”
In earlier evidence, jurors were shown a screenshot selfie of Bryan with the caption “send nudes (obviously)” which was published on Snapchat and allegedly sent to one of the men while in class.
Bryan claimed that he had posted the image publicly and was simply “a joke”.
He added: “It’s a worldwide internet joke that’s been going on for a few years now.
“It’s turning something nice into a bad joke.”
Bryan added that he could not specifically recall where the selfie was taken but said he would have been “too busy” to have sent it during a class.
Bryan, of Beechwood Road, Arbroath, denies communicating indecently with the two men by sending sexual messages and coercing the two students into looking at sexual images without consent, between January 2017 and March 2018.
The trial before Sheriff Alastair Carmichael continues.
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