Sexual violations of girl alleged

Press, 3 June 1989, Page 7

Sexual violations of girl alleged

A friend of the complainant’s family faces a High Court jury trial on three charges of sexually violating a girl. Evidence at the preliminary hearing of the charges, in the District Court yesterday, was that the defendant had known the family for 10 years. Judge Willy remanded the defendant, aged 42, on bail pending a date for his trial. He continued the interim order suppressing his name.

Counsel, Mr Mervyn Glue, reserved the defence.

Sergeant Colin Campbell prosecuted. The charges related to October 27 and December 4, 1988, and on various dates between December 26, 1987, and January 2, 1988, when the girl was aged 11 and 12.

Her evidence was read in a statement from to the court. She told of incidents relating to the charges and said she was aged nine when the defendant first began touching her.

She said that at first she did not know his touching her was wrong. Even

when she did know, he did it in a nice way. The girl’s mother said that after a relative called at the defendant’s premises for her daughter, she noticed she was upset and distressed and “strange.” When asked if there was something wrong, her daughter said the defendant had been touching her. Her daughter indicated that incidents of the defendant’s touching her had occurred over about four years. She said her daughter

was still upset and very confused. Her school work had gone downhill. It had deteriorated quite a lot over the last couple of years. Medical evidence was given that digital penetration could have occurred. A constable gave evidence of interviewing the defendant. He told her he had never touched the complainant. He had kidded round with her and her brother, just having fun, but that was all. He denied having touched her in the ways she had alleged.