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Jury sees video testimony of five-year-old alleged assault victim

A five-year-old girl told police how she was sexually assaulted by a stranger while she was playing outside her home.A male client of the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute is currently on trial at Supreme Court accused of attacking the youngster.The jury watched videos today of two police interviews conducted with the five-year-old in the aftermath of the incident last July.The child constantly fidgeted on a sofa at the Vulnerable Persons Unit as she responded to questions from a detective and social worker with: “I’m scared to tell you”.After she was reassured she was not in any trouble, she went on to describe how a man approached her when she was outside playing with her cousin and sister.“A stranger came. He didn’t know my name. He spoke to me and told me to come with him,” she explained.She told the officers the man took her to an area near a laundry room and made her take her underwear off.According to her, he then pulled his own underwear down, touched her sexually and told her to touch him, which she did.The child put a sofa cushion in front of her face and played with crayons and a teddy bear as she told of the incident.She described the stranger as wearing a green shirt and blue jeans.“He was tall like my Daddy,” she added.“He was just by himself.”She explained that after the man made her touch him: “Then he let me go and I went straight upstairs and told my mom what he did.”In earlier evidence in the case, the child’s mother told how the girl came back to the house “wide eyed” and “upset”, and told her what happened.She called the police and her daughter was taken to the hospital and examined.DNA expert Candy Zuleger has told the trial the child’s private parts and underwear tested positive for the accused man’s DNA.Defence lawyer Ken Savoury has claimed the DNA evidence is unreliable.The accused man denies two charges of sexual exploitation relating to his alleged touching of the girl, and the allegation that he made her touch him.Neither he nor the girl can be identified for legal reasons and the case continues.