by Julia Roberts

A man who was beaten up for an alleged sex attack after being tracked down via Facebook by his accuser's husband has been cleared of rape.

Andrew Marsh, 38, was assaulted after a woman, who cannot be identified, told her husband she was raped by the former Chatham grocer when she was a schoolgirl.

A jury at Maidstone Crown Court heard Marsh was traced through the social networking site by the alleged victim's husband claiming to be organising a surprise party.

He discovered Marsh's address and then attacked him at his home last year despite Marsh's protests.

Marsh told the jury of seven men and five women: "He started punching me, punching me in the head, shoulder, back and arm. He caused a massive cut down the side of my face.

"I was shouting at him: 'What the f***? It wasn't me. I didn't do anything'."

Marsh, of Bockenham House, The Fairway, Rochester, denied rape and was found not guilty.

However, he was convicted unanimously of indecent assault in relation to French kissing the girl.

The jury heard Marsh was "very friendly, chatty and flirty" with schoolgirls that visited his shop in the High Street.

It was alleged he was walking the teenager to a bus stop in 2001 when he pinned her against a wall in an alleyway off The Brook and raped her.

Giving evidence, Marsh, who was 27 and married at the time, denied either going into the alleyway or having sex with the girl. But he did admit French kissing her.

"We did regrettably kiss once affectionately," he said. "It was a 10-second French kiss with tongues. It was something that shocked me. I was quite ashamed.

"She was a young girl. She had a partner and I had a partner. We had a baby on the way. Everything was wrong about it. I felt so stupid that I got into that situation.

"I never touched her physically on her body. I am saying she is lying about it."

Marsh, who was shaking and crying in the dock as the verdicts were announced, must now sign on the sex offenders' register.

Sentencing was adjourned for reports. Releasing Marsh on bail, Judge David Griffith-Jones QC warned he could still face a jail term.

"I make it clear I do not exclude an immediate custodial sentence in the circumstances but I will be assisted by knowing more about the defendant."

The court heard it was during a row with her husband about lack of intimacy in their marriage that the woman claimed she had been raped.

She said she named Marsh as her alleged attacker because her husband kept "badgering" her.

"I didn't want to tell him because I was scared what he would do," she told the jury.

The alleged rape was only reported to the police after Marsh was attacked.

The woman said she had never thought about telling the police before but it was what her husband wanted her to do.

"He told me I had to call the police otherwise he would be prosecuted for assault," she explained.