Man, 68, denies sexually assaulting girl then 13 in the mid-1980s as Toowoomba District Court trial begins

On the first day of his trial in Toowoomba District Court the man pleaded not guilty to three counts of indecent treatment of a child and one of attempted rape.

A 68-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a then 13-year-old girl back in the mid-1980s.

The man, who cannot be named so as to protect the identity of his accuser, pleaded not guilty to three counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16 and one count of attempted rape or in the alternative indecent treatment of a child under 16 on the first day of his trial in Toowoomba District Court on Monday.

Opening the prosecution case, Crown prosecutor Emily Coley told the court the now 50-year-old complainant was expected to tell the court of the incidents which dated back to 1985 and 1986 when she was about 13 and living on a property west of Toowoomba.

Toowoomba Courthouse

The man lived on a neighbouring property, she said.

Ms Coley said the allegations included the man touching the girl on her breasts and genital area while the attempted rape charge related to an alleged incident when the girl was at the man’s property and they were in bed together.

The complainant will claim the man took her clothes off and got on top of her at a time when she was “nervous, scared and frightened”, Ms Coley said.

The trial before Judge David Kent KC is expected to run for up to four days.