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Court hears further testimony in trial of alleged paedophile

An 11-year-old alleged victim of sexual exploitation broke down in tears in Supreme Court yesterday as she relived the moment she claims she was fondled by her former primary school teacher.

The young girl was the sixth victim to give evidence in the trial of a 53-year-old Smith's man.

The man - who cannot be named for legal reasons - denies 11 charges of sexual exploitation of minors while in a position of trust and one charge of inciting a minor to touch him.

The charges relate to incidents said to have occurred between 1997 and 1999 which involve 11 young girls all aged between seven and eight years.

The defendant has been screened from the view of the young witnesses as they testified in the witness box.

Crying, the 11-year-old girl said yesterday she understood she was testifying because the defendant "did something he wasn't supposed to do".

"He touched my leg and my bum," she told the jury of nine-women and three-men.

Prosecutor Juan Wolffe asked her to demonstrate where the accused man had touched her leg and the girl indicated her upper, inside thigh area with her hand.

She said he had rubbed her leg in a way that made her feel "scared and upset" but that she did not say anything to the man.

"Did he say anything to you," Mr. Wolffe asked. "He told me not to tell anybody," the girl replied.

She said the incident occurred in one of the rooms of her primary school - where the defendant taught sporadically - and that two of her classmates had been on the other side of the table when it occurred.

On another occasion the defendant touched her bottom underneath her school uniform, the girl told the court. "I was at my teacher's desk, taking my work up," she said. "He put his hand under my skirt."

The girl said similar incidents occurred about once a month but that she was too afraid to tell anyone what happened. She described the defendant as having yellow teeth and dark skin.

On cross-examination by defence lawyer Elizabeth Christopher, the girl denied suggestions that the events she referred had not occurred.

Ms Christopher also confronted her with statements she had made to the Police saying that incidents occurred two to three times a week rather than once a month. The girl said she did remember telling Police that.

Ms Christopher pointed out the girl did not tell Police that the defendant had said she should not tell anyone what happened.

"I remember telling them but I don't know if I didn't speak up," said the soft-spoken witness.

Ms Christopher also established that the 11-year-old had spoken about the defendant with two of her friends - who are also expected to be called as witnesses in the trial - and that another teacher was in the room when one of the alleged incidents occurred.

Also testifying yesterday was the young girl's mother. The mother established the child's age and that she had attended the primary school where the defendant had worked during the time period in question. On cross-examination the mother said she had initiated a conversation with her daughter about the defendant after speaking to Police.

"You asked your daughter if (the defendant) had done anything to her," Ms Christopher asked. "Yes," she replied.

The trial is expected to continue today before Assistant Justice Charles-Etta Simmons.