A 38-YEAR-OLD man accused of sexually abusing two little girls has been convicted of assaulting one of them.

Peter Marren, formerly of Aidrie Crescent, and Girvan Grove, Burnley, was found guilty of two counts of indecent assault on the child when she was about eight, by a Burnley Crown Court jury.

The charges were alternatives to two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under 13, of which he was cleared by the panel on the third day of the trial.

The jury is still deliberating on three further charges of indecent assault, two said to be against the same girl and one against another complainant. The panel was sent home for the night by Judge David Pirie.

Marren, now living in Scunthorpe, denied all the allegations, said to have taken place between 1976 and 1979, when he was a teenager.

The court had heard how the defendant allegedly abused the two girls when they had been thrown out onto the streets after their family split.

(Proceeding)

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