Child was sexually assaulted when she was just 12 years old, Portsmouth Crown Court hears

A tirade of sexual assault only came to an end when the victim’s father walked in on it happening, a court has heard.

Mark Loten, 63, is on trial at Portsmouth Crown Court, accused of two historic counts of rape and one count of indecent assault. The offences are alleged to have taken place during the late 1970s, with a specific incident in 1979. Loten’s accuser has a life-long right to anonymity.

Loten denies the allegations.

Today (Tuesday, April 28), she gave evidence to the jury, who were also played the police interviews from when she first made the complaint in September 2021. She told officers that she was sexually assaulted on multiple occasions.

In the interview, she said: “I can’t remember the first time it happened, but it was more than once - it must have been three or four times.

“[The final time] my dad flung open the bedroom door - [the defendant] had his head between my legs. I would tell him to stop.

“When my father came into the bedroom, it then stopped. I felt that if I had brought it up he [Loten] would have been protected. I should have brought it up before.”

Her father, who walked in on the final incident, died more than a decade ago. The actions of Loten, from Yapton Road in Littlehampton, eventually resulted in his alleged victim becoming estranged from her family, the jury was informed.

The prosecution argued that Loten raped his victim multiple times, with the attacks sometimes happening in her bedroom at home. His accuser was a child at the time of the alleged offences.

Speaking in the witness box, his accuser added: “I don’t know whether my mother knew about it. I had discussions with my husband about it, though.

“It happened a few times. I don’t remember the exact dates - I was 12 years old.

“I blocked it out of my mind, I was scared.”

The trial is expected to run throughout this week.

Proceeding