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Alleged assault victim: 'I can't forgive'

A 21-year-old who claims he was subjected to a string of sexual assaults by a much older man while still a teenager told a court yesterday he could not “forget or forgive”.Mr X was giving evidence on the second day of the Magistrates’ Court trial of Mr Y, who denies ten counts of sexual assault between February and June 2009. Neither man can be named for legal reasons.The alleged victim was working as a temporary clerk in an office where 58-year-old Mr Y was general manager.Yesterday, he described an incident on Saturday, February 28, 2009, when he said his boss arrived unexpectedly at his home in the morning.Mr X said the defendant came into his room and told him he needed to get curtains or blinds for his window.He added: “He touched me once again without my approval, without my permission.”The man, who was 19 when the alleged assaults began and on probation after a spell in Westgate, said he was standing face to face with Mr Y when the latter moved closer to him.“Once again, he extended his right arm and proceeded to fondle or touch my genital area.”Mr X said the zipper of his track pants was pulled down by the older man before the assault. “He was again smiling while shaking his left leg,” he said.Crown counsel Nicole Smith asked him what he said to Mr Y to make him stop.“I told him that he needs to stop and that I didn’t approve of what he was doing to me, I didn’t want to be held responsible for retaliating,” said the young man.Ms Smith asked: “Did he make any response?”“No,” replied Mr X. “He did not respond. He was still smiling. He stopped and left.”He said he told his girlfriend about the incident because he wanted someone to know what was going on in case he did retaliate.On the first day of the trial, Mr X said he was in need of a helping hand when he took the job, as he was homeless, just out of prison and his father had died two years before.Yesterday, he told how on March 5, 2009, he was summoned to his manager’s office late in the afternoon.He said the older man sat face to face with him and asked if he had ever visited Jamaica, Washington DC and other US cities.Mr X said he replied no. He told the court he had no intention of leaving the Island to go abroad with Mr Y “due to the fact that he’s already made sexual advances on me”.He said: “He was a person I was coming to for help but in the end the things that he’s done to me I can’t forget them. I can’t forgive him for that.”He went on to describe another incident in the manager’s office, on March 21, when he claimed Mr Y assaulted him again.He said when the defendant touched his genitals it was “not like my girlfriend, not woman-like, not gentle”.He said he “eyed up” an envelope opener on the desk and told his manager if he didn’t stop he would kill him.The case continues.