AN ALLEGED victim of child sex abuse at the hands of an Abergavenny man broke down yesterday as she told a jury about the assaults and the effect they had on her.

Christopher Allan Hughes, aged 42, of Hillside, Abergavenny, has gone on trial accused of 14 counts of sexual activity with a child.

He denies all the charges.

Prosecutor Roger Griffiths told Newport Crown Court that the alleged offences were committed over a number of years within this decade when the victim was in her early teens.

During her cross-examination by Hughes’ barrister, Sarah Waters, the complainant was asked why she hadn’t told anyone at the time if she was being abused.

She replied: “I was scared and I was vulnerable. I was scared to death and because you don’t know what this horrible man is doing to you.”

The complainant was crying when she added: “I was so scared. I didn’t understand what was going on. I was trying to make some sense of it.”

Miss Waters put it to the alleged victim that she had confused nightmares she'd had with reality.

She denies this.

Hughes’ barrister added: “I am suggesting to you that the things you have said about the defendant are untrue.”

Mr Griffiths, in his re-examination, asked the alleged victim: “Have you deliberately told a pack of lies about the defendant? Have you invented these allegations?”

She replied: “No.”

The trial before Recorder Caroline Rees QC is due to last four days.

Proceeding.