An Afghan asylum seeker is in the dock accused of sexually assaulting a four-year-old Iraqi refugee at a German asylum centre.

A court heard that the 22-year-old was discovered in the toilet cubicle by the child's father, after he spotted his son's shoes outside the door alongside an adult pair.

When he knocked on the door, his young son's pants were down, but the older man said he was just helping the boy go to the toilet - an account the relieved father initially believed, reported the Holsteinischer Courier.

A court heard that the 22-year-old (pictured) was discovered in the toilet cubicle by the child's father, after he spotted his son's shoes outside the door alongside an adult pair

It wasn't until later when the boy revealed to his suspicious mother that he had been forced to perform oral sex on the man, who is in court along side a 29-year-old alleged accomplice, who is accused of 'keeping watch'.

According to prosecutors, an analysis led by experts reportedly showed traces of the boy’s DNA had been found on the man’s private parts after a penile swab.

The incident is said to have happened in the town of Boostedt in the northern-most German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The centre reportedly houses approximately 600 people

The incident is said to have happened in the town of Boostedt in the northern-most German state of Schleswig-Holstein, and is the latest in a series of reported sex attacks by asylum seekers that have shocked the country.

According to prosecutors, an analysis led by experts reportedly showed how traces of the boy’s DNA had been found on the man’s private parts after a penile swab.

The Afghan asylum seeker has denied the charges, saying that the young boy only asked him to open the toilet door for him, after which he simply left the loos and went away.

The 29-year-old Afghan who reportedly helped the 22-year-old alleged sex attacker has also been charged by the German prosecutor.

He has been accused of threatening the little boy’s eight-year-old brother with a knife.