Man appears in court over alleged historical sexual abuse charges

A man has appeared before the Northampton Crown Court today over alleged rape and historic sexual offences against a young girl who cannot be named for legal reasons. The allegations of historic sexual offences date back to the 7th August 2010 and the 8th August 2012 where the victim was aged ten and twelve at the time.

Miss Rose of the Crown Prosecution service said that the victim, who can’t be named for legal reasons was “scared” and “didn’t want to spilt the family up which is why these allegations have taken so long to come out.”

The court heard how the alleged incident of rape which occurred on the victims 17th birthday took place as well as other incidents of sexual abuse. Miss Rose told the court that the victim “had consumed alcohol and was unsteady on her feet then the next thing she knew she was alone with the defendant and she knew she was being abused, she froze and did nothing and didn’t want to push the defendant away, scream or shout.”

Miss Rose also described how the victim was “hit and abused” during the incidents and the parents of the victim were “spoken to about how to chastise their children.”

The incident was revealed the day after as the victim spoke to a close friend, the friend then called the police for the victim however, the defence lawyer for the defendant Mr Henderson argued that the victim had “lied to the police” as the victim had mentioned the incidents to her friends and not reported them to the police straight away and when questioned she would say that “nothing happened.”

Mr Henderson also mentioned that there were “no police or social services statements, no forensic evidence and no eyewitness statements which couldn’t back up the claims the victim had said to her friends” and questioned why the incident was “never reported to the authorities at the time.”

The defence also said that the victim when questioned on her own had described the family life at home as “good and the victim treats the defendant like her dad.” Mr Henderson told the court that the victim is “troubled and is capable of saying stop it when she wants too.” The defendant who cannot be named for legal reasons also denies being in the room at the time of the incident and denies all charges.

The trial continues.