A TEENAGER will today appear in youth court charged with sexually assaulting an eight-year-old girl.

The 14-year-old boy, from Padiham, was arrested on Friday and appeared before magistrates in Blackburn on Saturday.

He was charged with child abduction, common assault and sexual assault on an eight-year-old girl.

The boy's parents, who attended the court hearing, broke down in tears as their son appeared in the dock.

As the case was being heard at an adult court it was adjourned until today, when it can be heard in Burnley Youth Court.

Richard Mitcalf, district crown prosecutor for the CPS, said to remand the boy into custody would be difficult.

Therefore he asked that he be remanded on bail and must not leave his grandmother’s house until 7am today.

He was also told he must not contact the alleged victim, directly or indirectly, or enter Padiham.

And he is not allowed unsupervised contact with anybody under the age of 16.

The case follows a police investigation after the girl reported she had been sexually assaulted at around noon on January 2.

It was alleged she had been approached by an offender while playing in Pendle Street.

He then took her a short distance to a metal footbridge between Canning Street and Back Thompson Street where he put his hands under her clothes.