Father Paul Raymond Evans, who is facing 20 charges against eight boys between 1977 and 1988, yesterday admitted he sometimes hugged and comforted the teenage students in his dorm.
He said he rubbed the back of the neck of some students to provide comfort or to help settle them, so they could go to sleep.
One alleged victim told Sydney District Court that during a 1979 camping trip in the Royal National Park, Evans touched his penis and then made the 13- or 14-year-old do the same to him. The boy allegedly told some other students about it, one of whom reported it to the school hierarchy.
The boy said he was later told by the school's rector, Father Flemming, to forget about the incident because "men have urges".
Evans, who is a member of the Catholic order the Salesians of Don Bosco, yesterday gave evidence of his disciplinary regime, which included punishment and a reward scheme. But he denied that he had favourite boys, or treated some better than others.
"If they are attention seeking or looking for a hug or a cuddle, there's got to be a reason. It's got to be an insight into … what might be down the road," Evans told the court.
However, he denied touching his students sexually, taking them away at weekends, lying in their beds or raping them.
His barrister, Peter McGrath, told the jury at the beginning of the trial to keep an open mind because Evans faced charges that were up to 30 years old and it was difficult to defend himself against them.
The men who were giving evidence had come to Boys Town with family or legal problems, he said.
"Many of these boys after leaving Boys Town are becoming young men who have continued to have problems," he said.
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