A former Canberra tennis coach is accused of "luring" two young girls into privacy in the 1980s, before forcefully kissing both, rubbing one girl's genitals, and making another play with his penis.
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John Walter Cattle, 83, fronted the ACT Supreme Court on Wednesday, on trial over three historical acts of indecency and one indecent assault charge. He has pleaded not guilty to all of the offences.
The court heard Mr Cattle was a coach at Forrest Tennis Club during the 1980s.
Prosecutor Keegan Lee said Mr Cattle - on multiple occasions - lured one of his students, who was about 11 at the time, into the clubhouse kitchen.
There, it's alleged he kissed her using his tongue, exposed himself to her, and made her "play" with his penis.
On another occasion, Mr Cattle is alleged to have told the same girl to go look at a magazine in the club's bathroom, and said he would drop a basket of balls and "take his time picking them up" to make a distraction while she was gone.
She allegedly went as instructed and found a pornographic magazine.
"She understood at the time it was their little secret," Mr Lee said.
The allegation is not the subject of any of the four charges.
Another of Mr Cattle's students alleges he took her into the club's male change rooms on April 4, 1987, and forcibly kissed her using his tongue. He allegedly ran his hands over her shirt and breasts, and rubbed her genitals.
Mr Lee said another girl came into the change rooms and Mr Cattle stopped. When the allegedly assaulted girl's mother picked her up from tennis lessons, she told her Mr Cattle had kissed her, but was too embarrassed to say he'd touched her genitals.
The court heard the girl's parents later contacted Forrest Tennis Club about the alleged incident.
Mr Lee said the prosecution would argue Mr Cattle had a sexual interest in children between the ages of 10 and 13 while he was at the club, and a "tendency" to act on that sexual interest. He said Mr Cattle used his position as a tennis coach to do so.
Mr Cattle's defence lawyer said the former tennis coach had never before been charged with a criminal offence and was a person of good character. The defence lawyer told jurors the trial was taking place more than 30 years after the alleged incidents.
"The passage of time has an impact on what can be achieved in hearing witnesses," the lawyer said.
"It may be that an essential part of your job here will be to determine the case by assessing the reliability of the evidence before you.
"The real issue you might think is whether you can rely on the evidence in this case to satisfactorily determine the facts."
The lawyer said jurors would hear evidence that Mr Cattle had denied any wrongdoing at about the time of one of the alleged events three decades ago. The trial continues on Thursday.
