A SCHOOLBOY was allegedly molested by a middle-aged man who then asked the child to fondle him, a jury heard.

Burnley Crown Court was told how Eric Gray, 57, was dressed in just his underpants when he was said to have struck, after the youngster had been watching a video.

The boy, a football and computer fan, told the court he asked the defendant to stop what he was doing but Gray carried on for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Gray, of East Street, Rawtenstall, denies indecent assault on a male between December 1998 and January 1999.

Andrew O'Byrne, said last summer, the alleged victim was having a row with his mother when he complained he had been assaulted by Gray.

He claimed he had fallen asleep watching a video and when he awoke he was in a bed and naked. The boy said the defendant was touching him and asking the child to do the same thing to him but he refused.

Mr O'Byrne said the police were informed of the child's allegations and the defendant attended at the police station. He was interviewed twice and was adamant he had done nothing wrong.

Giving evidence via video link, the alleged victim, a pupil at an East Lancashire primary school at the time of the incident, claimed Gray touched him "where he shouldn't have done," and kept asking him to touch him but he said no.

He said the defendant might have done it more than once but it was only one occasion he could remember.

(Proceeding)