A GIRL, 12, who went to see a well-known Maitland massage therapist to treat her back pain was instead sexually assaulted, a jury has been told.
The alleged victim, now a woman in her early 20s, claims masseuse Mervyn Arthur Fullford never massaged her or looked at her back and instead put his hands down her underpants and sexually touched her.
Mr Fullford, now 65, has pleaded not guilty to 28 charges of sexual touching and indecent assault relating to 14 clients between 2015 and 2020 and is currently facing an estimated four-week trial in Sydney's Downing Centre District Court.
The first alleged victim gave evidence on Monday, telling the jury that in 2015 she was 12 and suffering back pain from playing sport when she was recommended to go and see Mr Fullford's massage therapist business, which was run out of a room in his Maitland home.
She gave evidence the appointment "felt like forever", but probably lasted for about 30 minutes, during which she claims Mr Fullford told her to strip down to her underpants and lie on a massage bed.
The alleged victim claims Mr Fullford was talking to her about the bones in the back while he "stroked" her inner thigh and then put his hands down her underpants and onto her vagina.
"I felt really uncomfortable because I didn't know why he needed to be touching my body," the alleged victim said, giving evidence from a remote witness room. "At that time as a 12-year-old I thought he was just doing his job. I trusted him, I guess."
The alleged victim said her mother walked back into the massage room while Mr Fullford had his hands down her underpants and claimed her mother looked "shocked".
The alleged victim also claimed at one point, while laying on her stomach, Mr Fullford touched her on the "bum cheek", but claimed he still didn't touch her back.
Towards the end of the appointment, the alleged victim claims Mr Fullford had her stand in front of a mirror in only her underpants and told her to "look at my beautiful body in the mirror each day".
She said it made her feel "gross and uncomfortable".
Crown prosecutor Sara Gul asked the alleged victim if there was any massage that happened during the appointment with Mr Fullford.
"No, I don't even remember him looking at my back," the alleged victim replied. "I was lying on my back and I don't remember him looking at my back. "He didn't massage my back, he did nothing to my back."
Afterwards, the alleged victim said she put her clothes back on and her mother mentioned to Mr Fullford about a hip problem she had been having. Mr Fullford asked her to take off her pants and briefly examined her, the alleged victim said.
The pair then left and had a conversation in the car, during which the alleged victim claims they agreed the appointment had been "strange" and they would not be returning to see Mr Fullford.
The alleged victim spoke to police and made a statement in 2020.
Under cross-examination from defence barrister Nicolas Moir, the alleged victim disagreed with suggestions her mother remained in the room during the entire appointment and that Mr Fullford had only touched her on the pubis area to assess any tension she had.
She also denied suggestions from Mr Moir that she had kept her underpants and crop top on throughout the appointment and that Mr Fullford's treatment had resolved some of her back pain.
The alleged victim's mother also gave evidence, claiming she had been outside of the room during some of the appointment.
"[When I walked in] I saw her on the bed and Merv had his hands down the front of her pants," the alleged victim's mother said.
She said she thought it was "weird" but did not say anything about it because: "I trusted him. "We were told to go to him. He was well-known in that sporting community."
The trial, before Judge Gina O'Rourke, continues.
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