Content note: This article contains discussion of sexual harassment and mention of sexual assault

Former Trinity Hall fellow Peter Hutchinson, who stopped teaching in 2015 after complaints of inappropriate conduct, was revealed to have self-published an erotic novel set in a university the same year complaints were made against him.

He published First Time: Ooo-la-la! under the pseudonym “Barry Able”. The book allegedly tells the story of an “innocent” first year student at a fictitious Oxford college who is convicted of sexual impropriety after a “series of erotic adventures”.

In response to the allegations, a spokesperson from Trinity Hall told Varsity “the College was unaware that this book existed prior to today”, and that its publication “had nothing to do with the College.”

Dr Peter Hutchinson was removed from Trinity Hall and banned from having any contact with students in 2017 as the result of an internal college investigation into his conduct was launched after 10 students filed complaints about his “inappropriate” behaviour in 2014 and 2015.

A BBC investigation published last year, however, unveiled that the academic had been ‘readmitted’ to the college as an Emeritus Fellow and retained some college privileges including dining rights and the opportunity to attend certain college events.

Hutchison later resigned in November 2019 after the publication of an open letter condemning the decision to readmit him garnered almost 1,500 signatures from both alumni and current Trinity Hall students, with the support of many college JCRs, MCRs and university societies.

Rory Kent, who graduated from Trinity Hall with a BA in 2018 and an MPhil in 2019, said that this “should remind us all that the faces of these feudal-imperial institutions are lying when they say they care about student safety and wellbeing”

“They do not; they care about port, silver and prestige. Their draconian internal structures are designed purely to protect their pink-faced “Fellows” from legal and moral scrutiny.”

Dr Hutchison confirmed to Tortoise Media that the book’s front cover, which features a woman’s leg in stockings is that of a former Trinity Hall student. He also said that it was unlikely that Trinity Hall was aware of the book and that its publication had nothing to do with the college. He said: “It needs to be emphasised that an author rarely thinks the same way as his main character.”

Alumni and current Trinity Hall students are said to be planning a protest against the college in the coming weeks.

The news also comes after the publication of an in-depth report by Tortoise media into multiple allegations of sexual assault and subsequent cover-ups at the college.

This article was edited to include a statement by the College in response to the publication of the novel.