A FRIGHTENED little girl was allegedly sexually abused by a man who has since been convicted of raping two women and put behind bars, a jury was told.

Burnley Crown Court heard claims Wesley Dean, now 50, molested the child behind an ice cream van.

The alleged victim was left sobbing and scared by his actions, but did not tell anybody what was happening.

Dean, a father of two, who lived alone in Rossendale, after his marriage broke down, was arrested in April 2010 and denied he had done anything improper to the little girl. He was in prison at the time.

The defendant, of no fixed address, but who has lived in Cloughfold, Haslingden, Balladen and Stacksteads, denies six counts of indecency with a child, one allegation of sexual activity with a child and three charges of indecent assault.

Kevin Donnelly, prosecuting, told the jury Dean lived alone in rented flats, one of them described as 'scruffy'. The girl did not complain to anybody about the alleged abuse at the time but eventually, she told her mother.

The girl told police she had been standing by an ice cream van when Dean molested her.

The defendant was arrested last April 21 and the allegations were put to him.

The prosecutor continued: "When he was arrested and asked about these matters, he was in prison.

"He was serving a prison sentence and the reason he was serving a prison sentence was because in late 2008 and early 2009, he was convicted before a crown court of six counts of rape, against two separate adults."

Mr Donnelly told the hearing: "The prosecution say there is a relevance, there is a significance, to these previous convictions in the context of this case."

Proceeding