The trial of a man accused of exposing himself to his young stepdaughter has ended with a deadlocked jury.
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The 49-year-old man was allegedly found sitting on the toilet with his shorts pulled down while preparing the young girl for a bath at their north Canberra home. He was on trial in the ACT Supreme Court charged with an act of indecency against a child aged under 10. The Crown alleged the man's wife had left him in the bathroom with her daughter and returned to find him with his penis exposed and the naked child standing between his legs.
But the man's defence barrister argued his client only pulled his shorts down as a form of sex education and to stop the child's constant curiosity about his private parts.
It was also suggested the man's foreign-born wife made the allegations to end the marriage and obtain a visa.
The man's wife had denied the suggestion.
The 11-member jury retired to consider their verdict at lunchtime yesterday and spent a day and a half deliberating. But at 3.45pm yesterday they returned to tell Justice John Burns they were deadlocked. The man remains on bail and may face a re-trial.