judgment on July 17.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded not guilty to the sexual exploitation of a child by someone in a position of trust and the alternate charge of touching a young person.

The young girl originally named a young relative as her assailant but later pointed the finger at the Sandys Parish man, who is a relative's boyfriend.

The girl's mother and aunt testified that the girl developed a rash, later diagnosed as herpes, as a result of the alleged assault which occurred sometime between September and October 1996.

Defence lawyer Victoria Pearman told Magistrates' Court there had been no evidence that the man was someone in a position of trust.

She reminded Magistrate Edward King that although medical witnesses testified that the man had at least two of the same sexually transmitted diseases the girl had been diagnosed with, the man claimed he had no symptoms.

And she stated: "We had all this evidence about the defendant's lethal private parts, but not one shred of evidence by individuals charged with safeguarding public health of any treatment given to him.'' But Crown counsel Lesley Basden called evidence given by the three defence witnesses "weak and inconsistent''.

She reiterated medical testimony which indicated that the man tested positive for herpes and gonorrhoea.