A 53-year-old Englishman denied in evidence at the Central Criminal Court that he sexually abused a Co Louth girl over eight years.
"It never happened. Even the thought of it sickens me. It turns my stomach," he said in reply to his counsel, Mr Diarmuid McGuinness SC. He said the allegations were "revolting" and denied raping the girl.
The accused's niece said she had allowed him to share time with her young child even after the allegations came to light. She also said she had frequently been in his company when she was a child. "He never touched me. He was like a big brother."
A friend of the accused told Mr McGuinness he had frequently stayed in the man's home from 1991 onwards. He had a car accident in August 1992, and stayed at the accused's home for six months to recuperate. He claimed the alleged victim was a frequent visitor to the house but he had never seen the accused act improperly to her. He also allowed his own children to stay in the accused's home after the allegations became known.
He agreed with Mr Gerry Clarke SC, prosecuting, that he did not see the accused for parts of the day and had left the house in the evenings to socialise with his own friends.
The accused has pleaded not guilty to seven charges of indecent assault, three of forced oral sex, three charges of having unlawful carnal knowledge when the alleged victim was under 15 years and one charge of unlawful carnal knowledge of her on February 9th, 1997, when she was under 17 but over 15.
He told Mr McGuinness he had never taken the alleged victim on unsupervised trips away from her home as claimed by her in evidence. He agreed she had stayed at his house for four days when she was nine but denied sexually assaulting her in his bathroom.
He also denied raping her in his boat and said the craft would fill with nearly a foot of water every day from September 1991 onwards.
The trial continues before Mr Justice Smith.