A two-year-old child was forced to watch in horror as her mother was pinned down and sexually assaulted, the Supreme Court heard yesterday.

The little girl is alleged to have desperately tried to defend her mother by hitting out at the attacker and then pleading with him to stop, but he continued to force himself on her.

The 21-year-old victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told Supreme Court that she had known her attacker for some time before the incident as he was sexually involved with her sister.

She told the jury how she had been waiting for the father of her child in Middletown in March, 1999 on the evening of the attack.

She said when her boyfriend failed to show up, she asked the defendant, who was nearby in the street, if she could borrow some money to catch the bus.

The court heard how he allegedly said he did not have any change, but said they should go to his house to get some.

It was there that the woman said he came on to her, pinning her arms down and forcing her onto the bed before assaulting her.

The woman told the court that the man had asked her to stay the night, but she had refused, telling him she was going home to her boyfriend.

She continued: "He asked me when was I going to give him some? (sex) "I told him he wasn't getting none from me -- he had a girlfriend.'' Telling the man to forget the bus fare, the alleged victim said she got up and turned her back to the man to walk out.

When she turned around, she said he was in front of her and trying to kiss her on the cheek.

The victim continued: "I moved back from him. Then he came back to me and stuck his tongue in me (her mouth).'' The woman said that it was then that the man pinned her arms to her sides and shoved her on the bed. The woman, who told the court that she was not wearing any underwear that day, claimed that he then sexually assaulted her while the child looked on crying.

The woman said: "I was telling him to get the f*** off me.'' She finally managed to kick the attacker off her after he loosened his grip of her in order to unfasten his belt.

He stumbled back onto a table and the woman leapt off the bed and grabbed her child before running to the door, the court heard.

He is then said to have thrown $6 bus fare towards the woman, and then continued to shout out her name as she left.

With her baby in her arms, the woman ran from the house in a north Hamilton street and telephoned her sister to tell her what happened.

Then she told the court that she walked to the bus station still cyring.

The child's father -- with whom she lived -- was on the bus, but she did not tell him what happened, fearing what he might do.

Dr. Keith Cunningham, the pathologist who examined both parties after the incident, said there were scratches on the woman's thighs and private parts.

During cross examination, the defendant's barrister Sonia Grant accused the woman of fabricating the story at the "behest'' of her boyfriend, claiming that he had known what had actually transpired between her and the man.

She argued that the woman never asked for bus fare until she arrived at the man's house and that she attempted to kiss him.

Ms Grant asked the alleged victim if she left the bedroom "a happy woman'', alluding that the woman had been a willing sexual partner.

Ms Grant questioned why the woman asked the defendant for money at all when she could have asked a friend who was also waiting with her in Middletown.

The defence attorney also asked why the woman did not take a taxi to her sister, who worked in a nursing home near the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, or go directly to the Police Station after the incident occurred.

The woman later explained: "My daughter was still fussing and I just wanted to get her home.'' When questioned by Ms Grant, Dr. Cunningham admitted that the scratches could have been made by anyone -- not necessarily the accused man.

Prosecuting the case is Juan Wolffe and Puisne Judge Vincent Meerabux is presiding.

The trial continues this morning.