A MUM says she turned her face away in disgust when she was sexually abused as a child only to be told 'it's legal now' when she turned 16.

Anthony Lane of Mayflower Road, Droitwich, denies 13 counts of indecent assault said to have started when the complainant was just 13 years old.

The 78-year-old listened in the dock using a hearing loop as his accuser continued to give evidence about the alleged abuse in Droitwich in the 1980s. She began her account from the witness box on Monday, the first day of the trial at Worcester Crown Court, and declined the use of a screen. Describing her childhood as 'awful' and 'terrible', she says the abuse began with Lane touching her private parts at the Lido swimming pool in 1986 and continued until 1989. The woman said she was sexually assaulted by Lane with a wine bottle and a pen, telling the jury: "It hurt."

Breaking down in tears several times, she told the court Lane had also spied on her through a hole in a shower wall. "I looked down and saw somebody's eye move away quite quickly," she said.

The woman, who has lifelong anonymity, also described how Lane would perform sex acts on himself in front of her. She also said he tried to push her head down towards his private parts but added: "I would not allow him to do that."

"I kept my head turned away. He just carried on" she said.

The woman said Lane would always carry on until he had 'finished'.

"It used to make me feel disgusting" she told the jury. She described him touching her genitals and legs and attempting to kiss her. "I told him 'no' at the beginning but it didn't make any difference" she said. When she turned 16 she said Lane told her: "It's legal now. I can't be in trouble."

This is when she says Lane had full sex with her and this became 'regular'.

"It wasn't consensual. It wasn't loving. It was nothing like that," she said.

The trial continues.