Irish priest Father Neil Horan has appeared in a London court charged with gross indecency with a child.
Fr Horan (57) of Nunhead, south London, is originally from Co Kerry. He denies gross indecency with the child on an occasion between 1990 and 1992.
The court was told Fr Horan stripped naked and chased a seven-year-old girl around his room. He then allegedly laid down and the girl touched his penis, it was alleged.
Mr Frank McGrath, prosecuting, said between September 1990 and February 1992 Fr Horan was "pursuing his vocation" at St Anthony's Church, Penge, south London.
He was working as an assistant priest at the church and living in a bedsit attached to the church building, said Mr McGrath.
The girl and her mother, who was receiving instruction in the Roman Catholic faith, visited his room a number of times.