An 11-year-old girl described to a Supreme Court jury yesterday how her stepfather "tickled her private parts'' during an alleged sex assault incident last year.

And a screen was erected in front of the Pembroke man so that the witness would not have to look at her alleged attacker during testimony.

Puisne Judge Philip Storr also ordered that the court gallery be cleared to "protect the complainant from further trauma''.

Her stepfather, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded not guilty to four related charges of sexual assault and sexual exploitation of a minor when they were put to him during the first day of the trial.

In his opening statements to the nine-woman, three-man jury, Crown counsel Peter Eccles described his role as prosecutor and said their verdict should rely mainly on whether they believed that the complainant was telling the truth or not.

"If you have any doubt, then it is your duty to give the defendant the benefit of that doubt and acquit him,'' he said.

He went on to describe how the girl had been staying with her mother and her stepfather while her foster mother was off the Island for two weeks.

It was alleged that the girl, who was nine-years-old at the time, was the victim of two incidents of "inappropriate touching'' by her stepfather while they engaged in "tickling games'' in front of the television.

"But this wasn't a game,'' Mr. Eccles said. "The defendant started and continued to touch her on her private parts despite her frightened objections.'' "This is a very serious matter,'' he added. Called to the stand as the first and prime witness, the young complainant had a difficult time giving testimony.

In a soft, nearly inaudible voice she answered the prosecution's questions, painting a picture of her version of events between January 28 and February 2, 1998.

She said her stepfather had "tickled me on my private parts'' on two separate occasions.

"The first time I was watching TV in his bedroom,'' she said.

Girl tells how stepfather sexually assaulted her "He came in and sat on the bed. He started touching me on my private parts.'' "I told him to stop,'' she added, "but he didn't stop. When he heard my mother coming he stopped.'' Asked how this incident made her feel, the complainant said: "It didn't feel right. I was taught about good and bad touching and this was bad touching.

"I didn't tell my mother because I thought she wouldn't believe me.'' The next incident allegedly happened the next day just after the girl came home from school.

"I had just changed my clothes and gone to watch TV in his room,'' she said.

"The same thing happened. He started tickling me and then pulled down my pants and touched me down there.'' The complainant apparently did not reveal what happened until a few days later.

"I talked to my auntie and then to my foster-mother,'' she recalled. "We decided to go to my school counsellor and talk to her.'' In cross-examination, defence attorney Larry Scott asked the witness if tickling happened often in the family and she revealed that it did.

He also queried her as to why she went into her stepfather's bedroom after being allegedly assaulted the first time.

"I didn't know he would do it again,'' she said.

Mr. Scott submitted to the witness that she was mistaken in thinking that he tickled her on her private parts and said, in fact, he had only tickled her near them.

Also called to the stand was the girl's foster mother.

The woman, who cannot be named, explained that she first became aware of the incident when she overheard her foster-daughter saying: "I don't like him (the stepfather). I hate him.'' "I became concerned and later on I talked to her,'' she said. "She told me that he tickled her and showed me where. I asked if it was normal tickling and she said, `no'.

"Within the next few days, I took her to the clinic to have her examined and then I went in to talk to her school counsellor.'' The witness said the complainant's mood in the days after the incident was "very cross and upset''.

"She had never had problems like that before,'' she said. "But afterwards she began counselling on a regular, frequent basis.'' The guidance counsellor at the girl's school said she noticed a clear difference in her before and after the alleged incidents.

"Her behaviour changed,'' she recalled. "Before she had had occasional outbursts but these increased dramatically. She also said she had nightmares and stomach pains and even what we thought was a fainting spell during gym class.'' The trial continues today.