A Sandys man accused of making inappropriate comments to a schoolgirl told police he would never make such comments to a child.

In a police interview played in Magistrates’ Court yesterday, he described the comments as “disturbing”, but that he was “pretty sure it was a misunderstanding”.

The 48-year-old defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is accused of intruding on the privacy of a 13-year-old girl in an incident on February 25 this year.

The child complainant alleged that on the day of the incident, she sat down on a bench outside of a Sandys business when an adult man sat next to her.

She moved away from the man, sliding further down the bench, but said the man told her that she didn’t need to move and began to ask her questions.

When the victim stood to leave, she alleged that the man licked his lips and made a comment about her “sexy figure”.

During a police interview recorded days after the incident, the defendant said he had worked at the business and that people regularly used the bench outside.

He offered no comment on whether he had seen a schoolgirl on the bench that day or if he had spoken with any students outside of the business that day.

However asked if he had made the alleged comments, he said: “I would never say that to a child.”

He later asked police if it was possible the girl was “mistaken or something”.

“I think it’s disturbing,” he said. “I wish her some peace from whatever it was. I’m pretty sure it was maybe a misunderstanding.”

The trial is set to continue next week.

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