An Mpumalanga man who tried to rape his neighbour's 14-year-old daughter was jailed for eight years by the Boschfontein Regional Court on Friday.

"Indeed, you did try to rape the victim and she escaped and fled because you were drunk," magistrate Edgar Moletsane told Vasco Mabila, 19, in convicting and sentencing him.

Moletsane said Mabila's testimony was full of lies, and that even though he did not rape the girl, he still faced a serious crime.

On Thursday, Mabila pleaded not guilty and accused the teenager of seducing him.

He said he slept at her house after her father, who was his friend, invited him to do so.

"The victim's father asked me to sleep in his room so that he could use mine to sleep with his girlfriend," he told the court.

He said the girl came to her father's bedroom, where Mabila was sleeping, and asked for beer.

"She grabbed my 750ml bottle of Black Label beer and drank all of it. Then after that she started kissing me while sitting on my lap," Mabila testified.

He told the court she asked him to give her his Blackberry cellphone and started kissing him when he refused.

"I did kiss her back, but we didn't have sex as I was afraid that if her father could find out he would be angry with me," he told the court.

Mabila's name will be added to the sex offenders list.