Two children told Magistrates’ Court yesterday that the same man sexually touched them last summer in separate incidents.

The defendant, a 48-year-old Sandys resident, has denied two charges of touching a girl under the age of 14 for a sexual purpose.

Both offences allegedly took place between August 1 and September 30, and involve different victims.

One girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, told the court that the defendant had touched her sexually while she played with friends last summer.

She told the court that on the day of the incident, her mother had taken her to the home of a family friend and had left to collect food.

The witness said that after playing in the property’s yard, she and another child had gone to a nearby wooden building she described as a clubhouse.

“It had a bed and toys and a PlayStation,” she said. “We climbed over the wall and we walked down a little path and up some steps and into the clubhouse.

“I was at the edge of the bed and talking to my friend, who was playing with toys, and I wanted to play the PlayStation so I was on the pillows by the headboard of the bed.”

She said that while her friend played with toys in the corner of the structure, the defendant – who she knew – came inside, sat next to her on the bed and then touched her sexually.

The child said that she didn’t tell anyone about what had happened that day because she was scared, but later told her mother about the incident.

Under cross examination, she accepted that she had heard a family friend say the defendant touched children, but told the court she had only heard it after she had told her mother about what had happened.

The victim said she couldn’t remember the exact day or time that the incident happened, but that it was during her summer break last year and likely happened in the afternoon.

The court also heard evidence from the second victim, who said she had gone to the same house on several occasions last summer.

She told the court that she had been brought to the home by her mother on a day last September.

The girl said that at one point during the day she was with other children in a kiddie pool when the defendant lifted her out of the pool.

She said she had not wanted to get out of the pool, adding: “If I wanted to get out of the pool, I would have gotten out of it myself.”

Later that day, as other children were playing in the pool, she said the defendant asked her to sit in his lap.

When she did so, she said the defendant touched her inappropriately.

The witness said that shortly after she got off his lap she went inside to tell another adult what had happened.

She said: “The next day he told me he wanted to tell me something, but I didn’t go. I just went inside.”

The trial continues.

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