Girl 'became shy after abuse, jury told (From Oxford Mail)

Girl 'became shy after abuse, jury told

7:16pm Monday 13th July 2009 in

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A FIVE-YEAR-OLD girl became “shy and introverted” after she was raped by a man more than 15 years ago, a jury at Oxford Crown Court heard today.

Brian Hoverd, 45, denies 11 counts of rape and 11 allegations of indecent assault on three children in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The jury heard one of the girls, who is now in her 20s, was raped and abused when she was five.

Her mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the jury how her daughter had explained she had been abused.

She added: “She said to me: ‘The man has done things and I am hurting’.”

Police were called and the girl was taken to be examined by a doctor, Fiona Horlick, prosecuting, told the jury.

The mother added: “She became shy and introverted. It was quite difficult after that. She used to be quite a lively little tot.

“I told her to put in the past and that it’s not your fault.

“We tried to put in the past and almost succeeded and got on with her life. She still is very shy.”

Hoverd, of Charterville Close, Minster Lovell, is accused of raping and indecently assaulting a second girl between 1987 and 1994.

He is also accused of grabbing a third girl and raping her in a churchyard when she was 14. The trial continues.