The mother of a six-year-old who was allegedly sexually assaulted has called for improved support for young witnesses after the girl proved unable to testify in court.

"I don't think it was very fair for her," the mother told The Royal Gazette. "She wanted to go back to school and didn't want to miss school. She just wanted to get out of there."

Attorney General Kim Wilson responded by saying that measures to allow videotaped evidence are being worked on. Further law reforms are also being explored to spare young people the ordeal of attending court.

As previously reported, the 40-year-old man accused of the attack walked free on Wednesday after the youngster clammed up on the witness stand at Magistrates' Court.

The defendant who has a previous conviction for committing an indecent act in the presence of a child was alleged to have molested Miss X when she was alone in a bedroom during a family party. He was described in court as a family friend.

When the girl, now seven years old, came to give evidence on Wednesday, she was protected by a screen from seeing the accused and members of the public. She was able to see the lawyers, Magistrate and a witness care officer all were seated several feet away.

The court heard from prosecutor Robert Welling that the child's mother gave a Police statement in relation to the incident last July and Miss X subsequently gave a videotaped interview to Child and Family Services.

However, in answer to questions from Mr. Welling during the case, Miss X repeated "I don't know" and "I can't remember" to all questions relating to the incident.

Mr. Welling eventually told the court he could not continue any further with the case and Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo acquitted the accused.

Neither the defendant nor the child can be identified for legal reasons.

Commenting in the aftermath of the case, Miss X's mother said her daughter was "very upset and scared" at the prospect of giving evidence. She explained that the case was supposed to be heard last week and her daughter was ready, but it was adjourned to give the defence more time to prepare. By the time of the resumed hearing on Wednesday, she said her daughter was upset at missing school.

She believes that is why the little girl declined to answer questions about her alleged ordeal.

However, she said that when Miss X participated in the videotaped interview with Child and Family Services last July: "She did the video interview perfectly. She told everything from beginning to end, with every single detail."

The mother added: "In the UK they use video interviews rather than the victim (taking the stand) because of the stress and everything. I think if we had that in Bermuda, that would work."

However, she stressed: "I really want to thank the prosecutor and the Police involved in the case. They were great with me and my daughter."

The case echoed another, in October 2008 when a six-year-old girl took the witness stand in front of a jury at Supreme Court to give evidence in the case of a 23-year-old man accused of sexually assaulting her. He too was cleared of the charge when the girl who was also protected by a screen in court declined to answer questions about what happened.

Speaking out yesterday, psychologist Carol Shuman said she was "appalled" to hear young witnesses are required to give evidence in court in such cases.

"Of course, those children should never have been exposed to such a situation. I would suggest to the parents of these children, or others who have had this experience, that they need to assure that their children receive psychological support to deal with the trauma of the courtroom experience in itself," she said.

Dr. Shuman was head of the Family Service Centre at the former US Naval Air Station in Bermuda, and is certified in the assessment of child and adult abuse and victim protection. She provided expert testimony in Bermuda's courts from 1995-2002 while in private practice.

"Bermuda's Police and court officials have been advised over many years (by me and many other professionals) of the psychological implications of courtroom trauma to children. Moreover, it should not take a professional to recognise that exposing children to an adversarial environment, especially given the availability of technology that makes such exposure absolutely unnecessary, is inappropriate," she said.

At present in Bermuda, it is not legally possible to use a videotaped interview with Child and Family Services as evidence for a prosecution case. While the law does allow for vulnerable witnesses to give "live" evidence via video-link, the facilities are not yet in place as technicians are still working on it.

However, Attorney General Kim Wilson said this is being addressed.

"I certainly share the concerns of the mother of the child who has recently endured the difficult process of attendance in court proceedings," she told The Royal Gazette.

"I wish I could say that (the) equipment and infrastructure needed to support the use of videoing evidence was completed. We are moving as quickly as possible to complete the process. I understand that the equipment is due to be ordered shortly and that the technicians are addressing the infrastructure processes.

"Once the system is in place, the courts will have the ability to view live child witness testimony from a remote location as well as a video recording of an interview which was conducted on an earlier occasion with the child witness.

"I can also confirm that I am looking at legislation similar to the UK's Criminal Justice Act which will, in the discretion of the court, permit the video recording of an interview with the child witness to be given in evidence. You should know however that the law does still require the child to be present for cross-examination if so required by the defendant.

"As I have previously stated, it is my intention to provide greater assistance for vulnerable and child witnesses at a time when their evidence is crucial to the court proceedings. I am confident that the use of video technology will help me meet this important objective."