A student who says she was sexually assaulted by an internationally-renowned violinist was afraid to report the incident in case it damaged her chances of a career in music, a court has heard.
Jan Repko, 66, is accused of groping the 18-year-old woman during a trial lesson at the Royal College of Music when he was considering becoming her teacher.
The student says Repko asked “may I?“ as she played, before putting one hand on her waist and another on her bottom.
The teacher is then alleged to have placed his hand over the woman’s crotch area and unbuttoned her trousers in the incident in July 2022.
Southwark crown court heard the woman told a friend a “horrible“ incident had happened during the lesson, but she feared making an official report to police and the prestigious school.
“She said he is a really famous violinist and he has a lot of power in the industry“, the friend told the court.
“She didn’t know if it was something she should report, because it could jeopardise her future and career.“
Repko, who lives in Fulham, south-west London, denies sexual assault and assault by penetration, and branded the allegations “absurd“ when he was first arrested.
The friend told jurors she was worried about the alleged victim when she stopped messaging for a few days at the time of the alleged assaults.
The woman then got in touch to tell her friend “something happened to her the week prior that she felt really stressed and horrible about, that she wanted to talk to me about.“
The friend told the court: “She called me and started talking, she said she was feeling pretty horrible about something that happened to her.
“She was struggling to deal with things – she told me she had a consultation with a teacher at the RCM (Royal College of Music) and she explained what a consultation was because I wasn’t sure. It’s like an audition when trying to find a teacher you go and have a lesson where you demonstrate your skills, playing some pieces, to see whether they will take you up as a pupil.
“She said the lesson started off fine. At some point the teacher told her she was leaning forward too much and she needed to readjust her weight.
“She said he approached her and asked ‘may I?’, to which she responded ‘yes’.“
The woman says she expected Repko to help with her arm positioning, but instead he “touched her butt“.
“She told me she just froze, she wasn’t able to understand what was going on because it was so shocking“, said the friend.
“She wasn’t sure if she should report it, she said she had a lot of things to lose and it would be her word over the teacher’s word.“
The woman said she continued playing the piece of music, and afterwards Repko praised her talent and suggested they would make a “good partnership“, the court heard. He then walked her to the tube station without referring to the incident, it is said.
“She was very angry at the way she reacted“, said the friend.
“Normally she is a very feisty person, she can stand up for herself.
“She was angry and disappointed she didn’t do enough at the time things were happening.
“She felt that also may not give her the right to say something now. She was very angry with herself about the whole situation.“
The friend said she encouraged her to report the incident, and later the woman told her friend she “hadn’t told me everything that happened, as something even worse happened to him grabbing my butt“.
Repko was tutor working in London for the RCM, which was established in 1883 and ranks among the world’s leading conservatoires for performing arts.
Notable alumni including classical composers Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams, as well as musical theatre star Alfie Boe and theatre boss Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber.
Repko has led music masterclasses around the world, he also taught at Chetham’s School of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, he spent five years as concertmaster of the Northern Philharmonic Orchestra in the Netherlands and is a co-founder of the Netherlands Youth String Orchestra.
Repko denies sexually assaulting the woman during the lesson.
The trial continues.
