A former South Derbyshire special school employee has appeared in court to face a historical charge that he falsely imprisoned a pupil by locking him in a coal shed.
Terence Butler has also been charged with whipping the boy with a wet towel and attacking another former pupil.
His co-accused, Christopher May, faces allegations that he sexually abused a different boy and attacked others.
The pair face a total of 16 charges, 12 for May and four against Butler, some of which date back almost 40 years.
Both deny all of the offences which are alleged to have taken place in the 1970s and 1980s at the now closed Overseal Manor School.
They include that May allegedly sexually touching one boy over a six-year period and attacking others while Butler’s offences allegedly include him punching boys and locking one in a coal shed.
Derbyshire Police confirmed both men worked at the school, which shut its doors in 1997, but gave no further details about what their positions were.
May, 71, of Dan Y Coed, Llanfyllin, in mid-Wales, has been charged with two counts of indecently assaulting a boy between 1979 and 1985.
He also faces two charges of indecency with a child in relation to the same boy and the same dates.
May has also been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm to the boy, which is an allegation that he struck him with a chair.
He faces separate charges of causing actual bodily harm to a different victim whereby he allegedly punched him to the back of his head between March 1977 and March 1979.
May has also been charged with causing grievous bodily harm to a third boy between December 1977 and December 1979.
May has also been charged with four further counts of actual bodily harm against four further victims between 1978 and 1984 and include allegations of further attacks on pupils who went to the school.
Dressed in a brown suit he pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
Butler, of Beech Lane, Stretton, has not been charged with any sexual offences.
But the 73-year-old has been charged with two assaults on a boy by committing actual bodily harm, between March 22, 1977 and March 23, 1979; assaulting a boy by committing actual bodily harm, between January 1, 1979 and January 1, 1980; and unlawful imprisonment between January 1, 1978 and January 1, 1980.
They relate to two alleged victims and the imprisonment charge is an allegation he locked one of the boys in a coal cellar.
He, too, pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
Judge Peter Cooke, sitting at Derby Crown Court, adjourned the case for trial which is scheduled to begin on April 3, 2018.
It is expected to last up to three weeks and the pair will next appear at the same court for a pre-trial review on February 23, 2018.
May has been bailed with the condition that he does not have any unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 18.
Butler has been handed unconditional bail.
