AN elderly man is on trial accused of sexually assaulting a six-year-old girl.

Stephen Shepherd, 60, is on trial at Oxford Crown Court this week charged with three counts of assaulting a child under 13 by touching and two counts of assaulting a child under 13 by penetration.

It is alleged that the offences took place between 2021 and 2022 against a young girl who cannot be named for legal reasons.

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Shepherd, of Perry's Road, Stanford in the Vale, near Faringdon, has denied the offences. The trial is expected to last four to five days.

During the trial opening on Tuesday (August 27), it was heard that Shepherd has been accused of touching the young girl indecently on at least seven times when she was aged between six and seven years old.

The allegations include Shepherd reportedly putting the girl’s hand on his penis, touching her chest, and digitally penetrating her.

Opening the case, the prosecuting barrister said: “The matters came to light when [the girl] said she was feeling unwell in October 2022.

“Her mother asked her if there was anything she could do to help her, she said she could rub butter on her chest like [Shepherd] does.

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“[Her mother] was extremely shocked. [The girl] spoke to her sister and she told her about the allegations, describing how she had sat on [Shepherd’s] lap and saw her rocket ship.

“Her sister thought her sister was talking about [Shepherd’s] erect penis.

“[Her mother] did call the police about the allegations and they did speak to [the girl] about them. She set out how [Shepherd] made her touch him…he did it on numerous occasions.”

The twelve-strong jury heard that the girl’s evidence was video recorded due to her age as was her cross-examination.

They were warned that they would only be shown her video-recorded evidence once as they would with a witness giving evidence in court.

Shepherd was then interviewed by police in November 2022 and answered all questions asked of him in which he denied all the allegations.

The prosecuting barrister told the jury: “The defendant need prove nothing in this case. It’s the prosecution case that [the girl] mentioned these things as they happened.

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“The detail she used and the way she described the events using her words was as it happened to her.

“Rather than a series of events she deliberately and repeatedly lied about for no apparent motive or gain.”

The trial continues this week being presided over by Judge Ian Pringle.