Detectives in England and New Zealand are involved in a joint inquiry after a seven-year-old girl claimed she had been sexually assaulted by her father.
The girl's parents are separated and embroiled in a family court dispute in London.
She lives in England with her mother and her father lives in New Zealand.
The girl had made the complaint when in England, telling a relative that her father had sexually assaulted her when she was with him in New Zealand.
Detail of the investigation has emerged in a ruling by a London judge who has overseen the latest family court hearing.
Mr Justice Holman said English and New Zealand detectives had agreed that New Zealand police would take the lead and that any interview with the man, and any prosecution, would take place in New Zealand.
He said the family had lived together in New Zealand.
The couple had become involved in family court litigation after the woman and her daughter left New Zealand and travelled to England.
Mr Justice Holman said the man had asked a judge in London to order the girl's return to New Zealand.
He said he had overseen the latest family court hearing in private and the family involved could not be identified.
But the judge indicated that the little girl and her mother had links to Dorset.
He said the youngster's complaint had been passed to Dorset Police, which was the English force involved in the investigation.
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