A tyre repairman who is accused of indecently assaulting a 7-year-old girl was remanded when he appeared in the Santa Cruz Resident Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.

Ricardo Campbell of Newmarket district, St. Elizabeth, pleaded not guilty to the charge of indecent assault after it is alleged that he sexually molested the girl, then bought her cellphone credit, while her mother was away.

It is alleged that on Sunday, November 11, the child's mother was at a funeral service in St. James when she received a distressed phone call from her daughter, begging her to come home.

After questioning her daughter and making several phone calls to friends and relatives at home, she discovered that her daughter was allegedly molested by the accused.

The mother told the court that when she arrived home that night she reported the matter to the Newmarket police. Campbell was arrested and charged. The mother also told the court that she examined her daughter and noticed swelling, and then took her to the hospital where she was examined by a doctor.

The accused is booked to return to the Santa Cruz RM Court on December 5.