A man accused of "molesting" a child left one of his alleged victims in "unbearable" emotional pain, with her writing in her diary years later "seeing his face makes me want to die", a jury has heard.
The man is accused of indecently assaulting two sisters with the youngest aged six or seven at the start of the alleged crimes which spanned several years.
The ACT Supreme Court jury trial continued on Wednesday.
The man has pleaded not guilty to four counts of committing an act of indecency on a young person, four counts of committing an act of indecency without consent, and one count of sexual assault in the third degree.
In his opening address to the jury on Tuesday, prosecutor Trent Hickey said the girls' mother had found scrunched up pieces of paper under her youngest's bed.
Mr Hickey said the mother had started reading the notes which contained the words "I was molested" and "he would make me sit on his lap".
The girl then disclosed the alleged assault to her mother by writing a note on her phone, the jury heard.
The prosecutor argued evidence would show that the man, who was the son of family friends, had touched the genitals and kissed the sisters when they visited his house.
Mr Hickey alleged that the accused had asked the youngest girl to sit on his lap when she was aged six or seven, before touching her arms, kissing her and rubbing her genitals.
"[The girl] felt she couldn't move and she felt confused, and didn't really understand what was going on," he said.
The man is also accused of indecently assaulting and sexually assaulting the older sister, starting when she was aged 14 or 16.
Mr Hickey told jurors one of the allegations involved the accused grabbing the older girl, pulling her into his bedroom, pushing her down on a bed and trying to kiss her.
Counsel for the accused, barrister Keegan Lee, argued the "central issue" of the case was whether the conduct happened at all.
He said the acts were alleged to have occurred at large family gatherings, "but apart from the complainants you will not hear any evidence that anyone else saw".
"We do not accept ... what the complainants said the accused did to them," Mr Lee told the jury.
"What happened at those family events and family gatherings is squarely in dispute.
"The reliability and accuracy and credibility of [the sisters'] evidence is very much in issue with this trial."
In a diary entry dated January 2019 that was shown to the jury, the youngest sister wrote "I was sexually assaulted as a child by [the man] ... I do not remember how long for."
"Seeing his face makes me want to die," she wrote.
"The pain was so unbearable.
"He recently got engaged and their [sic] was an outpouring of support and love for him and it silenced me."
The trial continues.
- Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; MensLine 1300 789 978; Canberra Rape Crisis Centre 6247 2525.
