A DIVORCEE has gone on trial accused of raping a girl aged eight or nine up to five years ago.

Vincent Laux allegedly mounted the sex attack in the Kidderminster flat where he lived alone.

He was arrested after the girl complained to her mother last year, Worcester Crown Court heard.

Laux denied rape but confessed to police that he had committed a sex act on himself in front of a child at a time when he was depressed and drinking, said prosecutor John Attwood.

The defendant claimed not to have realised that the girl was present when he began the act.

Laux, 45, now of Gibbons Crescent, Stourport, denies rape between December, 2003 and December, 2005.

He also denies indecency with a child between January and December, 2002.

Mr Attwood said his marriage broke down and he got divorced nine years ago.

He alleged Laux stripped naked before raping the girl in an attack which made her cry.

Although doctors who examined her last year found her perfectly normal, Mr Attwood said it was common for damage to abused children to heal.

He claimed Laux warned the girl to keep the attack secret or he would be sent to jail.

Mr Attwood said Laux did recall sexual behaviour in front of a child in another incident when his life was at a low ebb.

"He said he didn't get a thrill out of it but the prosecution is sceptical about his account," said Mr Attwood.

"He begins to acknowledge that something is not right by the way he was behaving. He told police he was horrified that it happened."

Mr Attwood said the girl involved suffered nightmares and flashbacks and asked her mother what she would do to a rapist.

Her mother is said to have replied that she would kill a child's sex attacker, the jury heard.

The trial continues.