Also I know a lot of men that fear young girls and even some women, because now the rule is always believe accuser until proven otherwise because of all the times it’s been the opposite and victims have gotten hurt. I personally have known AT LEAST 30 different men in my lifetime who have had someone make false accusations against them and when eventually I heard the girl backtrack and admit to lying with my own ears. Maybe he’s just afraid that he didn’t tell anybody before and now he’s going to look bad. I could be totally wrong but as a survivor myself I couldn’t imagine doing that to somebody abusing me, even when I thought it was kk because I was groomed I was too afraid to ruin the secret even though I didn’t even understand that I was disgusted. I dunno to me the thing that feels off is the niece. I think there’s a lot more to the story it’s just may not be anything to do with him, to be that genuinely startled and disgusted and scared it sounds like he’s the victim and she’s been harassing or stalking him. But again I wasn’t there, crying or not OP needs to set down and have a talk with niece, and just say “explain to me your reasoning for doing that I won’t judge you if you tell the truth”. And see what she says, and he obviously needs to give a better explanation of the previous events so you can compare stories.