A Pentecostal church founder felt guilty about massaging a teenager at his home, which he later realised was inappropriate, but denies the indecent assault a court has found him guilty of.
Inspire Church founder John McMartin, 68, was convicted of indecent assault in March over an incident at his southwestern Sydney home involving a then-19-year-old woman in January 2013.
He was sentenced to community service on an intensive corrections order.
Inspire was a "tactile" church, McMartin's barrister Philip Strickland SC told the NSW District Court on Tuesday, appealing the conviction.
"Hugs and kisses were common and people didn't feel uncomfortable," he said.
Too much emphasis was placed on McMartin's demeanour when he appeared in court and the magistrate made findings based on it that were irrational or denied him procedural fairness, Mr Strickland said.
The magistrate also overlooked McMartin's consistent denial of having squeezed the woman's breast or rubbed his hand on her genitals while massaging her.
He was unsurprised she later made a complaint, acknowledging the massage was inappropriate and had made him feel guilty, Mr Strickland said.
However, the magistrate rejected his evidence, finding McMartin sought to minimise his conduct while giving evidence, which Mr Strickland said was an "entirely inappropriate" finding.
"He doesn't minimise his conduct, he admits it," Mr Strickland said.
It was inappropriate for McMartin to massage a teenage woman alone at his home, and he later acknowledged that, while continuing to deny the offending conduct.
"The denial by (McMartin) is not implausible and no objective factors contradict it.
"Of course the complainant contradicts it, but no objective features do," Mr Strickland said.
Prosecution lawyer Louise Thompson said McMartin's evidence was at odds with itself.
He gave evidence he wanted to be physically close to the complainant and took advantage of the opportunity for the massage, which he would not have given in the workplace or in front of his wife, in the context of the young woman being alone in his house while he was intoxicated.
"And he's saying there's nothing sexual about it," Ms Thompson said.
McMartin was also not an impressive witness, "simply guessing" some of his answers and arguing with prosecutors, supporting the magistrate's finding his evidence was "underwhelming," she said.
"They're factors that, to me, jumped off the page," Ms Thompson said.
It was only a peripheral issue that McMartin had been argumentative at times with prosecution lawyers and talked over his own counsel, Mr Strickland said.
"Does that justify a finding that he's not to be believed on the central issue?" Mr Strickland said.
He also questioned the veracity of multiple statements the woman had made describing the assault.
Contemporaneous handwritten notes contained more detail than later sworn statements to police, and Mr Strickland suggested family members "played a material role" in preparing some statements.
Ms Thompson said the woman had accepted the inconsistencies in her past statements, given over several years, and explained she had tried to repress details on the indecent assault during that time.
Judge Andrew Scotting is expected to deliver a judgment on McMartin's appeal on Friday.
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