A Brisbane jury has been discharged in the trial of a former mechanic training to become a masseur who was accused of sexually assaulting a customer.
Constantin Aciobanitei, 56, pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual assault in the District Court.
He was accused of pressing his penis into a woman's arm twice while massaging her at a health clinic north of Brisbane in September 2020.
The woman was lying face down on the massage table at the time after removing her shirt and bra, court heard.
She became "paralysed by fear" and only looked up to see "the back of him" as the masseur left, crown prosecutor Michael Connolly told the jury.
Defence barrister Clare Hurley told the jury that the woman was upset by a poor massage and had been uncomfortable with a man performing the treatment.
Aciobanitei was learning to become a masseur and could go to the Morayfield clinic "whenever he liked" to receive training and work for free, the court heard.
Ms Hurley said the masseur may have accidentally pressed against the customer's arm with his body or an object and the woman "jumped to conclusions".
The jury began deliberating on Wednesday but was unable to reach either a unanimous or majority verdict and was discharged by Judge John Allen.
