A former Highland girls football coach has gone on trial accused of raping a teenage girl.
Lee Murray, 53, former head coach at the city’s Thistle Girls FC, denies the charge and has lodged a special defence of consent.
Murray also denies charges of communicating indecently with an older child and causing them to look at a sexual image, attempting to communicate indecently with a child and attempting to cause a child to look at a sexual image.
The charges allege that, on various occasions between October 1 2021 and February 4 2022, at various locations in Inverness-shire, Murray induced the girl, who was under 16 at the time, to remove her clothing, kissed and touched her naked body, performed sex acts on her and raped her.
Accused denies sending naked photos
Another charge alleges that Murray, whose address is given as a prisoner in Inverness, sent messages asking the child about her sexual experience, exchanged messages of a sexual nature with her, proposed meeting with her in order to engage in sexual conduct and sent her images of himself naked.
He is also charged with sending written sexual communications to somebody he believed to be a child aged between 13 and 16 – but who was in fact an adult – over social media, as well as causing that person to look at a sexual image by performing a sex act during a video call.
On the first day of evidence, the jury was played taped interviews with the alleged child victim, who told how Murray contacted her over social media platforms including Messenger, Instagram and Snapchat.
‘Have you done that before?’
She explained that during one of these conversations she had told Murray about a sex education lesson during which the class had been putting condoms on things.
“He just asked me: ‘Have you done that before?’, she said.
The pair later met up when the girl was 15.
She explained that Murray would pick her up in his Black Audi and they would drive around before parking up in laybys and secluded spots before having sex in the car.
She said Murray had brought condoms but she did not believe he used one.
Questioned about how many times it had happened, she said: “Probably about eight … 10 maybe”
Asked if she had “consented” to the sexual activity “all these times” the girl replied: “Yes”.
The case, before Lord Sandison, continues.
