Defense attorneys for a Congolese man accused of raping a younger relative called into question yesterday the method in which the girl was tested after the assault, arguing the technique was outdated.

Finishing a week of testimony before a jury in Merrimack County Superior Court, pediatric nurse Deborah Pullin told jurors that when she inspected the girl for signs of rape in 2008, her findings were "consistent with sexual penetration."

The girl, now 14, has alleged that 35-year-old Jean Pierre Kihuna of Concord raped her in the family bathroom several times between September 2005 and May 2007. Kihuna was arrested in August 2008 and is charged with two counts of aggravated felonious sexual assault - each punishable by 10 to 20 years in prison.

Pullin, who serves as assistant director for the Child Advocacy and Protection Program at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, said that when a child alleges sexual assault, tests are given to identify signs of trauma or infection. In the majority of cases, there are no signs because children don't often come forward about abuse immediately, and the tissue around vaginal and anal areas heals very quickly, she said.

The girl's case, she said, was "highly unusual" because tissue around her vaginal opening displayed irregularity and was "quite thin" - in some areas less than one millimeter thick. That measurement is consistent with signs of sexual penetration, she said.

Kihuna's attorney, Paul Maggiotto, argued yesterday that Pullin's examination method was outdated. He cited a study, written by the same author whom Pullin said she used to identify the one-millimeter threshold, which said the classification scheme had "evolved and changed."

"Until there is additional research published, the significance of these findings will remain controversial," Maggiotto read from the article. "Any clinicians that are currently using older versions . . . are encouraged to use more recent versions."

Though Pullin said her exam was not diagnostic, the information Maggiotto presented did not change her finding.

Prior to the exam, Pullin said the girl told her that Kihuna "put his thing in my thingy," and when asked to elaborate, she did not use the word vagina.

"I asked (her,) Is it a part only girls have? She said 'yes'," Pullin said. "She said, 'He put it in my whipping place' . . . and stood up and pointed to her anal area. I asked her when it happened; she said in 2006 and 2007 but didn't seem to be able to pin it down more closely."

When the girl testified before a jury on Tuesday, she said she could not remember many details about the alleged assaults, including when they started, how often they were, or whom she told about it.

Maggiotto has argued the girl fabricated the allegations following ongoing problems in the family. Prosecutor David Rotman said the girl has blocked out memories of the assaults because they are too painful to remember.

The girl, her older sister, and brother met Kihuna in a Mozambique refugee camp after fleeing civil war in their home country of Congo. The girl's sister married Kihuna, and the family moved to Concord in 2005.

The girl's sister has since divorced Kihuna, and the sisters now live in Indiana.

Jurors yesterday also heard from Martin Bukasa, a Congolese pastor who testified that he was close with Kihuna. Bukasa said he counseled Kihuna and his former wife at least three times while they worked through marital problems.

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