SALEM--Stephen LaLonde said yesterday he is innocent of the highly publicized allegations by his former wife that he sexually abused their 8-year-old daughter, saying the accusations are "making me out to be a beast."

For six months LaLonde remained silent while his ex-wife waged a campaign against allowing him visitation or custody of Nicole LaLonde. She even hid the child and went to jail to get the court to investigate her claims. Now that his daughter is being examined and a trial looms, LaLonde has taken center stage.

LaLonde, 37, an appliance salesman, said he decided to speak at last once his daughter was returned to safety in Massachusetts.

"I had to say something because obviously the press was doing a number on me," he said.

LaLonde said he feared for his daughter's safety while she was hidden by her mother. He said he was concerned people in the "underground railroad" who kept Nicole from authorities might take some unspecified drastic action if he said anything to anger them, a situation he likened to authorities dealing with hostage-takers in Iran.

Virginia LaLonde, 41, a onetime bookkeeper, fled the state with their daughter, Nicole, in June 1986 rather than let her husband have custody after a court ruled there was no basis to her sex abuse charges.

When she returned without the child, she was imprisoned for contempt of court because she refused to disclose her daughter's hiding place. She was freed last week after Nicole was found in Durham, N.C.

When the child returned to Massachusetts, Nicole was admitted to Cambridge Hospital, where she is undergoing psychological and physical examinations.

Mrs. LaLonde alleges LaLonde abused their child four times while on parental visits. Both sides in the custody battle say they are looking forward to a trial to bring even more attention to the case in which both expect to be vindicated. LaLonde said he will seek full custody of Nicole with her mother allowed only supervised visitation until he can be sure she will not flee with the child again.

LaLonde said he has a videotape of a 7-hour visit of Nicole at his house on Jan. 1, 1986, when his fiance, her two daughters and his mother were present. He said it was following that visit that Mrs. LaLonde, who he refers to as "Ginger," took their child to a Beverly pediatrician for a gynecological exam.

LaLonde said that both the videotape and the doctor's report, which show he did not harm his daughter, are among the evidence to disprove his former wife's charges. He said he took the precaution of videotaping the visit because in July 1985, Mrs. LaLonde had accused him of sexually abusing their daughter and he felt he needed some proof.

LaLonde said that when that social worker's report was sent to Essex County District Attorney Kevin Burke, the resulting investigation included a lie-detector test but no prosecution resulted. LaLonde said therefore he should be considered cleared but said he would consider taking another lie detector test.

"Why does she want sympathy?" LaLonde said of his former wife. "If I was guilty, then she wouldn't have to go to the press, right?"