Man accused of playing naked wrestling game with schoolgirl likely to be jailed

Before Ipswich Crown Court was Lawrence Green, formerly of Brandon, but who now lives in Spinners Lane, Swaffham.

He denied six offences of sexually assaulting a girl under 13 dating back to when she was young as five.

He was found guilty of two of the offences by 10-2 majority verdicts, one of the offences by an 11-1 majority and unanimously guilty of a fourth offence.

He was cleared of the two other offences.

Judge David Pugh adjourned sentence until tomorrow (Wednesday) and warned Green he was likely to receive an immediate prison sentence.

He remanded him in custody overnight.

Giving evidence during his trial Green claimed he had been “a friend” to the girl and denied sexually assaulting her.

He denied that he had groomed her from a young age by having naked physical contact with her and that she had “put up with it.”

“She never put up with anything. She had her say if she wanted to,” said Green.

The victim hadn’t told anyone about what Green had done to her until 2017 and following his arrest Green denied sexually assaulting her and described her as “malicious”.

During his trial the court heard that he had sexually assaulted the girl while playing a naked wrestling game, which he called the “jelly bean or jelly baby game”, with her on a bed when he was in his fifties and she was primary school age.

Isobel Ascherson, prosecuting, said that once the girl and Green were naked they had “tumbled over each other” on a bed.

On another occasion Green and the girl had been naked in a hot tub with Green and two other adults and while she was floating on her back her foot had accidentally touched his penis.

Miss Ascherson alleged that Green had then taken hold of her foot and tried to pull it back in contact with his penis.

Cross-examined by defence counsel Jonathan Goodman, the victim denied that the allegations she had made against Green were lies and were designed to hurt his wife after they fell out.