magistrate on $5,000 bail.

The 23-year-old Southampton man -- who cannot be named for legal reasons -- was ordered to be freed on bail provided he met certain conditions by Magistrate Edward King yesterday.

Mr. King ordered the man to find two sureties for his bail, surrender his travel documents, and report to Police twice a week. He also ordered him to have no contact with any prosecution witnesses.

The man has yet to plead to charges that he committed a serious sexual assault and intended to facilitate the commission of a serious sexual assault by administering a stupefying substance.

The alleged offences occurred on May 2 at the woman's Devonshire home. The man was ordered to return to Court on June 10.

SEX OFFENDER LODGES APPEAL CTS Sex offender lodges appeal A conviction of a man on charges of sexually abusing a nine-year-old girl was "dangerous because of a lack of supporting evidence'', a court heard.

Lawyers arguing an appeal against the conviction of the 40-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, claimed there were inconsistencies in the victim's testimony and a lack of corroborative evidence to back up her claims.

Before the Court of Appeal, lawyer Julian Hall was appealing the Magistrates' Court conviction which was subsequently upheld by Chief Justice Austin Ward in the Supreme Court.

The man was sentenced to six years imprisonment after he was found guilty of touching his girlfriend's relative, who is now 11, for sexual purposes in 1996.

The girl contracted at least two sexually transmitted diseases as a result of the attack, which Magistrate Edward King said was one of the worst cases of child abuse he had ever seen.

But Mr. Hall said the case hinged solely on the evidence, which contained contradictions, of the girl.

The girl, he said, had originally said nothing had happened, then blamed a young boy and finally said the man committed the offence.

He said there was no evidence to support the girl's claims, adding that the Magistrate should have made a note in his judgment that a conviction in the absence of corroboration is very dangerous.

Following the Magistrates' Court conviction of the man, he was sent to the Supreme Court for sentencing.

An appeal on Mr. King's judgment was rejected by the Chief Justice who handed down the six-year term.

Mr. Hall also pointed to a Crown admission that evidence from a doctor, who said that children cannot fantasise about sex, was inadmissible.

However, Crown counsel Patrick Doherty said it was clear that the girl was sexually molested by the defendant and contracted a sexually transmitted disease.

And he said alleged inconsistencies could be explained by the girl's embarrassment and confusion after developing the disease.

In court, he said, the victim was candid and not confused about what had happened.

"The Magistrate clearly rejected the evidence of the defendant and found the child to be a credible and believable witness,'' he said.

A decision from the Court of Appeal will be made shortly.

MAN BURGLED SISTER'S HOME CTS Man burgled sister's home A man who burgled his sister's home three times on May 24 was sentenced to six months in prison on Friday.

Andre Smith, a 39-year-old stone cutter, faced four charges in Magistrates' Court, including breaking and entering and stealing cash and cheques, and three counts of uttering false documents.

The court heard that on being questioned by the Police, Smith admitted that he entered his sister's Pembroke home through an unlocked door and stole $50 cash from her handbag.

He then returned later in the day and stole a further $110. At 5 p.m., he returned a third time and stole two cheques.

The following day -- May 25, he obtained monies from the Bank of N.T.

Butterfield after forging his sister's signature on the cheques.

Smith had told Police that he was addicted to cocaine and had committed the offences to get money to buy drugs. He had previous convictions for similar offences.

In sentencing Smith, Magistrate Archibald Warner told him that he needed "structure''. He sentenced Smith to six months imprisonment on each count to run concurrently, with a recommendation that he receive all necessary treatment for his drug addiction.