A man accused of sexually abusing his friend's daughter throughout her teenage years described himself to police as ''her protector''.
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But Michael Alan Gillard told investigators an incident when she gave him oral sex on the couch, while her younger sister was in the same room, was ''stupidity''.
The 57-year-old man is standing trial in the ACT Supreme Court facing an 18-count indictment of sexual offences dating from about 1992 through to 2000.
He has pleaded not guilty, arguing the pair's only sexual interaction was consensual and after she turned 16.
And his barrister, Ken Archer, has highlighted inconsistencies between statements the alleged victim gave to police and her evidence in court.
The jury was yesterday played recordings of police interviews with Gillard in 2009, conducted when they searched his house and later at a police station.
In both interviews, Gillard admitted kissing and cuddling the complainant on occasions, interactions he described as not passionate, but he denied having any sexual encounters with her when she was too young to consent.
''Basically ... I was her protector, that's the way I saw it,'' he told Detective Senior Constable Simone Campbell at the station.
''She always would come running to me when she had a problem.''
The alleged victim, who is now 30, has previously given evidence of being forced to give Gillard oral sex when she was aged 17, in front of her younger sister.
Both sisters alleged Gillard said he could make the teenager do whatever he wanted, and the complainant said she tried unsuccessfully to pull away.
Gillard, however, told police the girl ''didn't object''.
The man said he was aware the younger sister was in the room but believed she was facing in the opposite direction, and he'd forgotten she was there.
''And that was the stupidity of the whole thing,'' Gillard told investigators.
''That I allowed it to happen and it happened there.''
He admitted taking Polaroid photographs of her naked at her family's home, but said the then-teenager was ''a bit of an exhibitionist'' who often walked around without clothes.
The accused man has been charged with possessing child pornography in relation to three photos found at his home in 2009.
The alleged victim previously told the jury she had no memory of the photos being taken, although Gillard has been accused of photographing her naked at an earlier age.
Under cross-examination from Mr Archer, Senior Constable Campbell, currently a federal agent, acknowledged a statement was not taken from the girls' older sister, who was allegedly present when some of the acts occurred.
Gillard's defence team is expected to begin presenting evidence before Chief Justice Terence Higgins on Monday.