A man accused of molesting a young girl will have to defend himself legally, a Magistrate ruled yesterday.

Magistrate Edward King rejected a no-case submission yesterday by defence lawyer Victoria Pearman.

The 39-year-old Sandys Parish man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has pleaded not guilty to the sexual exploitation of a young person by someone in a position of trust between September and October of 1996, and the alternate charge of touching a young person.

Yesterday in court, Ms Pearman argued there was no evidence the man could be considered a person in a position of trust.

"There is no evidence of the complainant being left in his care, or of the defendant assuming any specific responsibilities...no legal relationship existed between the two,'' she stated.

And she suggested the medical evidence provided by both examining doctors did not provide a strong enough case to merit a conviction.

"The prosecution seeks to rely on medical evidence in support of the complainant, but the medical evidence we have heard from Dr. (Keith) Cunningham presumably intended to implicate the defendant is hearsay,'' she added.

Previous testimony revealed the girl had contracted three sexually transmitted diseases as a result of molestation.

And although the 11-year-old girl initially named another man as her assailant, she pointed out in court last week that the Sandys Parish man, who is a relative's boyfriend, was the guilty party.

But Ms Pearman called the young girl's testimony "contradictory'' and "bizarre''.

Both Mr. King and Crown Counsel Lesley Basden, however, disagreed with Ms Pearman's characterisation of the young girl's testimony. Ms Basden stated: "(The complainant) never contradicted herself on the stand, nor was her evidence unreliable.'' Mr. King ruled that there was a case for the defendant to answer.