Court hears from alleged child victim in indecent assault case

Monday 31 July 2017

A nine-year-old girl who accuses a 37-year-old man of a series of indecent assaults told the Police it felt "strange and distressing" in interviews that were played in Royal Court this morning.

Paul Trevor Moore is pleading not guilty to all the charges against him, which include four counts of indecent assault and six counts of procuring an act of gross indecency.

Outlining the case, Crown Advocate Richard Pedley said it focused on "...a sustained period of sexual abuse on a young girl aged between three and seven." He explained the alleged assaults took place over the course of three years.

The Crown Advocate also explained that the child does not remember all the events properly or exactly what age she was when they happened. "A young child can’t be expected to have a clear recollection of time," he said.

He continued saying "...allegations of these sort are ugly and most people would find them deeply uncomfortable," before urging the jury to ask themselves why would the young victim lie.

This morning, after the twelve members of the jury were sworn in, they were shown a video recording of the first interview the alleged victim gave to the police. 

The little girl said: "It felt strange and distressing. I didn’t like having to do it. It made me feel like, 'Why are you making me do this?' It was weird."

The trial is expected to continue until Wednesday.