Plymouth woman cries as she tells court of abuse 20 years ago

A WOMAN wiped away the tears as she told a jury she was abused by a man nearly 20 years ago.

Lee Murphy, aged 30, is on trial at Plymouth Crown Court accused of sexually abusing three children.

A jury watched a recorded interview where one of his alleged victims, now in her 20s, cried as she told detectives how she had been assaulted in the mid-1990s.

The woman described how Murphy had indecently touched her when she was of primary school age as she watched television in bed.

She added that she woke up in bed a year or so later to find Murphy again touching her.

The woman said she kicked at him but he carried on. But the court heard she did not tell anyone until confiding in her partner two years ago.

Asked why she did not tell anyone, the woman added: "Deep down, I just wanted to forget about it."

She said: "It hurts me more to know that it was not just me, there were more people he has done this to."

A second man, also now in his 20s, also told the jury how he was indecently touched by Murphy in bed on four or five nights when he young.

The court heard he never told anyone until two years ago.

"I felt confused and scared," he said. "It was horrible. I tried to block it out. I didn't know what to do."

A third man also told the trial he was abused once when he was about 10 years old.

Malcolm Clark, for Murphy, suggested to all three witnesses that the assaults never happened and that they were telling lies.

Each said they were telling the truth.

Murphy, of North Road West, denies two offences of indecently assaulting a girl under the age of 14 and two of indecently assaulting a boy under 14. He also pleads not guilty to another charge of sexually touching a boy under 14. The offences are said to have happened in the city between December 1993 and November 2005.