Story: Stephen Sah
BRITISH DENIES OFFENCE
THOMAS Alan Tichler, the 57-year-old Briton accused of indecently assaulting a three-year-old girl denied the offence yesterday and said the girl had been coached to frame him up.
“I deny any form of harm, indecent assault and inappropriate behaviour with the victim. There is no bone in any part of my body that will allow me to do anything as horrendous as what has been described. I swear this not only on oath but on the head of my children,” he said when he opened his defence at the Accra circuit court
Tichler, who is alleged to have inserted his fingers into the victim’s vagina, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of causing harm and indecent assault.
He has been refused bail.
According to Tichler, he came to Ghana under the auspices of the Volunteer Service Overseas (VSO) and was attached to the Micro Finance and Small Loans Centre established under the Office of the President to disburse small loans without collateral to the productive poor.
He said his responsibility was to assist in refining the internal policies and procedures of the project and he was excited by it because he believed in processes that involved self-help for poverty mediation.
He said before coming to Ghana, he was taken through a series of interview processes, such as the cultural sensibilities of Ghanaians, health and safety briefings, as well as a check on his criminal record.
The accused described the incident relating him to the offence as a terrible blow and a damage to his reputation. “However, I do understand that any parent faced with his or her precious little girl bleeding in her private part will be extremely alarmed and concerned. As a parent, I will have a similar concern. I understand the need to find the truth but it should be the truth,” he stated.
Stating how he came to be associated with the victim’s father and subsequently visited his house, Tichler explained that he struck an acquaintance with the girl’s father, who happened to be the Human Resource Manager of the project on which he worked.
He said after a series of conversations, he agreed to visit the man and his family, after he had done a background check of the family, especially on the ages of the children.
Asked by Mr Ellis Owusu-Fordjuor, his counsel, as to how he managed to get to the house of the victim’s father, Tichler replied that having armed himself with the ages of the children, he bought some postcards and serviette and met the man at a church rendezvous where he was picked home, after some shopping by the man.
Tichler said when he got to the house, the man decided to occupy himself with some construction work he was doing, while he (Tichler) also engaged the children in games in the lounge.
At that time, he said he learnt that the victim’s mother had gone to the market but she came back not quite long after he got there, while the man left to purchase items needed for the work.
He said while he played with the children, it got to a time when his alleged victim had little attention and, therefore, he carried her on his shoulders and went round the house playing with her.
“After about five minutes she started to become heavy and I suggested it was time she came down, but she crossed her legs around my neck and did not want to come down,” he said of the girl.
He said the girl’s mother also pleaded that she came down, but she refused, but eventually he managed to bring her down on the sofa, where he subsequently sat to watch television, while the girl joined her other siblings to also watch a movie.
The accused person said the girl intermittently returned to bounce herself on the sofa until she informed him that she wanted to urinate, at which point he took her to the mother.
He said when the girl left the room, he heard commotion in the adjacent room and after that the girl came to report that her mother had cried.
He said he noticed that the girl was not wearing an underwear so he sent her to her mother and decided to relax for some time before taking a stroll where he found some workmen in the house.
Tichler said when he stepped outside the house, he saw his male host arrive in his car in a frenzy and started assaulting him and accusing him of having defiled his daughter.
He said the man punched him to the ground and brought him into the house where he brought a pair of underwear to him, amidst accusations of defilement, adding that he (the accused) was stunned and overwhelmed.
According to him, he was taken to the Legon Police Station and then to a hospital where he was stripped naked to examine whether he had had sex with the girl. But the doctor could not find any evidence to support the charge of defilement.
He said when he requested the doctor to take debris from his fingernails for forensic examination, the police said he had washed his hands, but the doctor replied that it would not have made any difference.