A man accused of exposing himself to an 11-year-old child has had his trial turn into a case of he-said, she-said.

It's alleged that Shawn Wipp, 37, asked a young girl if he could masturbate in front of her after she had come to his house to babysit on June 12, 2004.

Wipp drove to the child's house to pick her up and continually asked her how old she was on the drive to his house, court heard last week.

The girl was under the impression that she was going to be babysitting Wipp's four-year-old child, but when she got to his house, there was no child to be found. That was primarily because Wipp did not have custody of the four-year-old that weekend.

According to her testimony, while the girl watched TV, Wipp took a shower and came out into the living room wearing a purple tank top and track pants decorated like the American flag.

She said Wipp then asked her if she menstruates and what her level of sexual experience was, before taking off his pants and asking if he could 'jerk off' in front of her, court heard.

The youth asked if she could go home and he said yes. But it would be a while before she would go home, the girl said.

She said, while sitting there, Wipp lit up something that didn't look like a normal cigarette, but she says she wasn't sure what it was.

The child said Wipp turned on the Playboy channel before asking her to dial his friend's number.

The youth dialed the number of Wipp's female friend and Wipp asked the woman if she could come over and drive the girl home.

The girl noted that when she had passed Wipp the phone, he had one hand on his penis.

The friend eventually came and drove the girl home. Once home, the girl told her mother, who called the RCMP.

Both of the girl's parents were in court last Tuesday.

While the soft-spoken child went into the details of her evening with Wipp, the father had to step out of the courtroom because he couldn't bear to hear the evidence.

On a court break, the mother offered the victim a sandwich, while the father asked how Wipp could even look at himself in the mirror.

When it was Wipp's turn to testify last Wednesday, he had a different story to tell about that night. The heavy-duty mechanic said he was making repairs to a dump truck that day.

He then went to the Airport Chalet for beers and nachos.

While in the lobby, paying his tab, he ran into an old friend, 'Mike,' who he hadn't seen in five years.

Wipp said he didn't know Mike's last name. Mike was in town visiting friends and families. He suggested he and Mike should go out later and gave the man his phone number.

Back at home and doing laundry, Wipp received a phone call from Mike at 9:30 p.m.

The two decided they would go out and Wipp said he would arrange a babysitter for Mike's child, even though he didn't know how old the child was or if it was a boy or a girl.

Crown prosecutor Samantha Wellman said it's odd that Wipp wouldn't know this information.

Wellman said Wipp had asked an 11-year-old to babysit a child who could have potentionally been nine or 10.

Wipp called a friend he knew who had a few girls who babysat and asked the 11-year-old who answered the phone if she would come over.

He then went to the store and picked up some tobacco, called the Chalet and left a message for Mike.

When he got home, Mike called him back and Wipp told him to take a cab over because he had found a babysitter.

Wipp then left to pick up the 11-year-old.

Wellman asked why Wipp couldn't have picked up Mike while he was picking up the babysitter.

Wipp said he showed the girl the house and said the Playboy channel accidentally came on while he was showing her how to work the satellite remotes.

He then took a shower and came out into the living room wearing a towel around his waist.

While wearing this towel, Wipp sat on the couch and made small talk with the girl about how her mother was doing.

Wipp denies asking her any personal questions like the girl claimed.

He said he didn't put on any clothes before going out in the living room because he was waiting for them to dry. He didn't think it would be a big deal for him to sit in front of the girl with a towel on, he said.

Mike then called and told him he wasn't able to go out anymore.

'I told him bummer,' because he wasn't going to make it,' Wipp testified.

At some point, Wipp said, he went into his room and put on a pair of boxers, because the friend who picked up the 11-year-old testified that Wipp had answered the door in his underwear.

That friend also said she noticed some underwear on the floor.

'Laundry was everywhere,' Wipp said.

He admits to smoking marijuana in front of the youth and said he'd had four beers earlier on in the evening.

'I had a slight buzz,' he said.

Wellman suggested this 'buzz' impaired his judgment, which might have led to the offence.

Never at any point in the evening did he tell the girl that she was babysitting for a friend's child, he testified.

Wellman said that was suspicious.

Wipp said he didn't know where his friend Mike was visiting from nor how long he was in town. He might have been working in the Grande Prairie, Alta. area, said Wipp.

Wellman suggested Mike doesn't exist. She said if he did, it's likely the defence would have tracked him down to corroborate Wipp's story.

The lawyer asked how Wipp was able to leave a message for Mike at the Chalet if he didn't know his last name.

Wipp said the woman at the desk knew Mike and Wipp, so she knew just where to send the message.

Wellman found that to be a little too convenient. She asked why he wouldn't have showered before the babysitter came over.

Wellman also noted that Wipp never tried to pay the girl for her wasted two hours, even though he had a chance to get cash when he went to get tobacco.

'Something must have happened that night to make the girl say something like that,' said Wellman about the accusations. 'It is improbable that an 11-year-old would make that up.'

'I had a towel on, maybe that was traumatizing for her. I don't know,' said Wipp.

His lawyer, Edward Horembala, said his client is guilty of bad judgment, but not of exposing himself in front of a young girl.

It was bad judgment for his client to wear a towel and smoke marijuana in front of the girl, said Horembala.

It's highly improbable that Wipp would have done what the girl claims, the lawyer added, especially since Wipp would know the girl would likely run home and tell her parents.

'At the very least, my client's testimony should raise a reasonable doubt,' he said.

Horembala said Judge Karen Ruddy has heard no evidence that would prove that Mike doesn't exist.

'Why would he have looked for a babysitter?' asked Horembala, saying it's unlikely Wipp would have invented the situation to lure a young girl.

'You just don't know who to believe,' he told Ruddy.

He is asking that his client be acquitted of the charge of exposing himself.

Wipp was also originally charged with inviting a person under the age of 14 to touch his penis. That charge was later stayed.

Wipp made his first court appearance last June 14 and was released from custody June 16 on $500-bail while awaiting his February trial.

He said he has been traumatized by the accusations against him.

Wipp will be back in court on Feb. 17 to hear the judge's decision.