A man says he stayed silent for two decades about sex abuse allegations against former NSW minister Milton Orkopoulos because he thought no one would believe him.
Orkopoulos, 65, has pleaded not guilty to 28 charges, including sex offences against underage boys that allegedly occurred between 1993 and 2003.
He was the member for the NSW state seat of Swansea from March 1999 until November 2006, when he was booted from cabinet and expelled from the Labor Party.
Orkopoulos faces eight counts of supplying a prohibited drug, eight counts of indecent assault and 11 counts of sexual intercourse with a person aged between 10 and 16.
He is also accused of perverting the course of justice after allegedly having one complainant sign a statement to retract an allegation.
One man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, told Downing Centre District Court that Orkopoulos repeatedly sexually assaulted him in the back seat of his car over a two-year period when he was a child.
He said Orkopoulos would pull up to the house of one of his school friends and tell him to get in the car.
"Why did you get in the car?" crown prosecutor Cate Dodds asked on Wednesday.
"Because he was an adult, he was the MP of Swansea," the man said.
He said Orkopoulos plied him with cannabis and heroin before the abuse.
The man said he met Orkopoulos when he was in primary school.
His poor school behaviour led to his grandmother, who knew Orkopoulos, taking him to the MP's electorate office, the man said.
He added that he did not tell his grandmother about the abuse.
"She took me there to start with. I didn't think she'd believe me either," the man told the court.
Orkopoulos allegedly assaulted him more than seven or eight times, the court heard.
He did not speak to anyone about the abuse until he made a report to police in September 2020.
Defence lawyer Paul Johnson argued that getting into the car with Orkopoulos wasn't consistent with the man's general behaviour at the time.
"You just told us that you were getting in trouble with adults because you weren't doing what you were told to do. Why is Milton different? You always seem to get back in the car because he's an adult," Mr Johnson said.
"Yes, and a member of parliament," the man said.
The trial continues.
