A DISTRICT councillor said to have developed an unhealthy obsession for a young girl is accused of indecently assaulting her after a trip to the seaside.

Harry Devine, 53, also stands accused of inciting the girl and a friend to commit an act of gross indecency on a separate occasion.

The Easington District Council member for the east Durham village of Wingate, who denies the three charges, appeared before Durham Crown Court yesterday.

Adrian Dent, prosecuting, told the court that Mr Devine befriended the girl and took her on outings.

The court was shown a video he took of the girl and a friend, then both aged ten, in their swimming costumes at the seaside.

Mr Dent said the indecent assault took place after a trip to Scarborough when the girl fell in the pond at Peasholm Park.

On their return, Mr Devine took her into his bedroom and took off her wet clothes before touching her.

The girl objected and left the house, but was too frightened to tell her mother.

Mr Dent said that, a year later, Mr Devine invited the victim and her friend, who were then 12, into his bedroom to see photographs he had taken of them.

The court heard he asked both girls if he could pay them £10 to touch them, but both refused.

Police were eventually informed and the mother of the first girl confronted Mr Devine, accusing him of being "a pervert".

Mr Dent said Mr Devine went down on his knees to the woman and said: "Please, please, I'll have to resign from the council."

Mr Dent said: "What the prosecution say is that the defendant obviously has a sexual liking for young girls, in particular this girl, and it amounts to an obsession and plainly an unhealthy sexual desire towards them, and that's why the offences were committed."

In taped interviews with the police, played to the court, the girl said she had previously liked Mr Devine until he committed the offences, but she denied having encouraged him.

The case continues.