AN elderly man accused of sexually assaulting a six-year-old girl told police there wasn’t even a possibility she saw him naked ‘by accident’, a jury has heard.

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, it was heard that Shepherd allegedly touched the girls chest as well as forcing her to touch his genitals.

He took part in a voluntary police interview in late 2022 where he told police it’s unlikely she had even accidentally seen him naked.

The interviewing officer asked him: “You said [the allegations] never happened. Has there ever been a time where she’s seen you in a state of partial undress?

“Maybe there was an accidental seeing of you being partially undressed?”

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Shepherd said: “A couple of years ago there was a time when I was using the toilet and [she] opened the toilet door when I was having a wee.

“I doubt [she] saw anything, I was fully dressed.”

The defendant was also asked if it’s possible that the girl had accidentally walked in on him having intercourse.

He said: “No, that is not even a possibility.”

During the trial on Wednesday (August 28), the jury also heard evidence from the complainant’s sister who had first asked the girl about the allegations reportedly in 2021.

She told the jury: “I asked her to describe what it looked like and she said a rocket ship. She said she was sat on his lap.

“I asked if it had any hair on it and she said yes.”

In cross-examination by Shepherd’s defence barrister, Gareth Jones, the sister was asked: “Who first used the word ‘rocket ship’?”

The witness said the girl had.

When asked if it is possible that she had used the word instead, the witness replied: “Yes I might have done.”

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Mr Jones said: “I’m going to suggest to you that the conversation did not take place in the way you described.

“It was you that brought up hair and you prompted her to say what she thought you wanted to hear.”

The witness replied: “No I disagree with that.”

The trial continues.