A Natrona County man accused of sexually assaulting an eight-year-old told jurors Wednesday morning that the child's mother had long threatened to leverage sexual assault allegations against him.

Raymond Leroy Frederick took the stand in the third day of a jury trial in Natrona County District Court. He is charged with three counts of sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree for events that allegedly occurred over a week in October.

According to court documents, a Casper police detective was called to a residence after the child's mother reported the alleged abuse.

The victim's mother told police she began noticing her child behaving unusually from Oct. 1 - 6. When she arrived home on Oct. 1, she found her daughter naked in her bedroom.

On Oct. 3, the victim was seen wandering around in a pair of polka-dotted shorts. The victim's mother then observed her daughter putting lotion on her legs due to having dry skin.

A few days later, on Oct. 6, Frederick picked the child up from a party. When the child's mother arrived home, she noted the front door of the residence was open. Her daughter was also wandering around without any clothes.

That's when the child's mother became concerned. She checked her daughter for injuries and saw that her genitals were injured and she was hot to the touch.

The child told a Casper police detective that Frederick would lure her into his room with candy he kept under his bed. When the child asked for candy, he grabbed and pushed her onto his bed. Frederick bought the child gifts in order for her not to tell anyone about the incidents.

In court Wednesday, Frederick denied the mother's version of events.

Frederick said he was simply concerned the child's mother did not adequately provide for the child.

Frederick told jurors that he and the child's mother had gotten into several verbal altercations. When that happened, she would threaten to call law enforcement and say he sexually assaulted her daughter.

Finally, Frederick denied having any sort of sexual attraction toward children and that he never inappropriately touched the child.

"The only way I ever touched her was holding her hand while we were walking into the store," Frederick said.

A jury of seven men and six women is expected to begin deliberating Wednesday afternoon. One juror is an alternate.

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