A former Fife Tory councillor has gone on trial accused of fondling a young girl on a bed as she watched TV.
Michael Green’s alleged victim told a court he ”massaged” her legs, then put his hand under her shorts and touched her private parts during a five-minute period.
Green, 72, is alleged to have used lewd, indecent and libidinous practices and behaviour towards the girl at a property in Glenrothes in October 2006.
The former Conservative councillor for Glenrothes North, Leslie and Markinch ward is said to have touched the child on her legs and placed his hand underneath her clothing and touched her private parts.
According to court papers, she was nine years old at the time.
Green faces a second charge of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in November 2011 at another Glenrothes location by touching and rubbing his hand on his genitals over his clothing.
Green, of Carleton Avenue in Glenrothes, is on trial this week at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court and denies the allegations.
‘Slight smirk’ after alleged attack
Giving evidence, the woman – now in her 20s – said she remembers lying on her front on a bed watching a replay of singer Leona Lewis in the X-factor and Green entering and sitting on the bed.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: “He just started rubbing my legs.
“It was kind of like how you would describe a massage, going up and down.
“From my ankles up to just below my bum.”
She said he repeated the motion twice and on the second occasion, touched her “private area” under her shorts.
Asked by prosecutor Lee-Anne Barclay how she felt at the time, the woman said: “Ashamed, scared, terrified”.
The woman said the incident lasted “about five minutes” before she turned and stared at him as if to suggest ‘what are you doing?’ and he stopped.
She claimed Green then left the room with a “slight smirk” on his face, adding: “I have it (the thought of him smirking) drilled into my brain every day”.
Triggered by smell of bleach
Fiscal depute Ms Barclay referred to more recent Facebook messages between the woman and another person she says she told about the alleged incident at the time.
One of the messages suggests she washed herself in a shower with a bottle of bleach that night.
The woman told the trial she turned to alcohol at an early age and needed anxiety medication as a result of the “trauma”.
She said she suffers from nightmares and PTSD, which can be triggered by the smell of bleach.
Denies defence position
The trial also heard the girl told her mother about what happened when she was 12 but begged her not to contact police.
In her evidence, the woman’s mother said she made several attempts to talk to her about the possibility of reporting the matter but believes her daughter was too scared she would not be believed.
In May 2021 she decided to report it to police.
During cross-examination, defence lawyer Alistair Burleigh questioned the credibility of the woman’s claims and told her: “I have got to suggest to you this incident you have described to the court today never even happened.
“There was no such incident”.
The woman denied this suggestion.
The trial, before Sheriff Mark O’Hanlon, continues.
For the latest court cases across Tayside and Fife, join our Courts Facebook page.
