in Supreme Court to indecently assaulting a young boy over a seven-year period.

Andrea Irene Tucker admitted molesting the boy between his sixth and 12th birthdays.

Crown Counsel Mr. Stephen Harrison said the now-teenaged victim suffers from flashbacks and received treatment for headaches and abdominal pains which had no apparent physical cause.

Mr. Harrison said the boy's paediatrician told Police these may have been attributable to sexual abuse.

According to statements taken from the youngster, Tucker kissed him on the mouth, fondled him and had him handle her breasts when she began babysitting him in 1983.

The court heard that the Spanish Point, Pembroke, resident was left in charge of the boy frequently.

By the time he was eight, the abuse had escalated. The boy said Tucker would take their clothes off and attempt intercourse.

The molestation eventually ended when the youngster was 11 or 12 years old.

The boy kept his silence until he was 14, when he revealed what had happened to a friend who urged him to report the incidents to the authorities.

When interviewed by Police, Tucker admitted making her breasts "available'' to the boy when he was six or seven years old, and performing other indecent acts on him.

Tucker did not deny having intercourse or oral sex with the boy, although she said she was not able to remember if it had actually happened.

The 36-year-old lost her job at a Pembroke nursery school not long after the accusations were levelled against her last year.

Defence counsel Miss Patricia Harvey asked that a social inquiry report be conducted on her client -- whom she described as "developmentally slow' -- before sentencing.

Puisne Judge, the Hon. Mr. Justice Ward granted this request, saying it and a psychiatric report already submitted by a private psychiatrist would be taken into consideration.

Mr. Justice Ward said the Crown could have Tucker examined by the Government psychiatrist as well if they wished.

Tucker, who is on bail, will appear for sentencing in May.