A court has heard allegations that four boys were drugged and sexually abused by former New South Wales government minister Milton Orkopoulos between 1993 and 2003.
Mr Orkopoulos pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to 28 charges relating to the four boys aged between 11 and 14.
Mr Orkopoulos stands accused of multiple charges of having sexual intercourse with minors.
The offences allegedly occurred when Mr Orkopoulos served as a Lake Macquarie City councillor, as well as when he was the Swansea MP.
The District Court was told the boys had allegedly been given drugs before being sexually or indecently assaulted.
In her opening address, Crown prosecutor Cate Dodds said it was the Crown's case that Mr Orkopoulos demonstrated a pattern of behaviour.
"He acted in an opportunistic manner by engaging in sexual acts with them and supplying them with drugs," she said.
The charges include counts of aggravated indecent assault, aggravated sexual assault and supplying prohibited drugs.
Mr Orkopoulos was also charged with trying to pervert the course of justice by getting an alleged victim to sign a statutory declaration retracting an allegation of sexual abuse.
The court was told he allegedly sexually assaulted his victims at Caves Beach, Swansea and Belmont, as well as at Seal Rocks on NSW's Mid North Coast.
Drugs and alleged abuse
Ms Dodds told jurors Mr Orkopoulos would offer his alleged victims cannabis via a joint or in a bong.
The jury was told he took drugs with alleged victims in his car and, in several cases, in his electorate office where he allegedly offered to "shoot up one boy with heroin".
"It is the Crown case that the accused had a sexual interest in boys under 18 years of age," Ms Dodds said.
"There is an overwhelming body of evidence that the accused has had a sexual interest in young boys and acted on that interest time and time again."
Defendant maintains innocence
Defence barrister Paul Johnson said jurors should not let the nature of the charges impact their judgement.
"It is his case he never sexually or indecently assaulted any of these boys and never supplied them marijuana," he said.
"You must put out of your mind anything you might see on the news and just judge him on what you see and hear.
"You may have a reaction of horror and disgust and, clearly while they are quite natural human responses, the point is those reactions are not going to assist you in your task as jurors," he said.
His barrister told the jury his client was an innocent man.
"It is his case he never sexually or indecently assaulted any of these boys and never supplied marijuana," he said.
"He strenuously denies supplying drugs, alcohol and money."
The Crown alleged Mr Orkopoulos gave multiple alleged victims $1,000 wads of cash, a claim Mr Orkopoulos has rejected.
Trial expected to last four weeks
All four alleged victims felt Mr Orkopoulos' status as a politician would mean they would not be believed, the court heard.
One of the alleged victims told police "the accused was an adult and an MP, so he just got into his car", the prosecutor said.
It was the same car where he was alleged to have been sexually assaulted and drugged seven or eight times.
The trial before Judge Jane Culver is expected to run for four weeks.
