A police officer accused of raping a young woman he befriended has faced the first day of a jury trial in the Northern Territory Supreme Court.
Patrick Carson has pleaded not guilty to two charges of sexual intercourse without consent.
Senior Crown Prosecutor Marty Aust alleged Mr Carson "developed an intense personal relationship" with the alleged victim and became a "father figure" to her.
"Under the guise of being a supportive and caring father figure, [he] allowed a situation to evolve," Mr Aust told the jury.
"She trusted him, felt loved, important and special, to the extent that he was able to control aspects of her life and ultimately take advantage of her in a sexual manner."
Complainant 'distressed' by alleged incident, court hears
The court heard the charges related to two separate alleged incidents.
On one occasion Mr Aust said the pair massaged each other, alleging Mr Carson assaulted the woman during a massage.
The second charge related to an alleged assault when prosecutors say Mr Carson and the alleged victim were alone on a couch together at a house in Darwin.
Mr Aust told the jury the complainant was "distressed" by the alleged incidents but "accepted apologies" in part due to the fact Mr Carson was a police officer and she had "strong feelings" for him.
Jurors heard that throughout the trial they will be shown "thousands upon thousands" of text and Facebook messages between Mr Carson and the alleged victim.
Mr Carson's barrister, Mary Chalmers SC, told the jury some aspects of the Crown case would not be disputed throughout the trial, such as the fact Mr Carson and the alleged victim were alone together and massaged each other.
However, she told the jury the dispute was over "what really happened".
"The defence case is that there was no sexual intercourse of any description on either of those occasions," Ms Chalmers said.
"… this is a case where, on the defence case, there's been gross exaggeration to the point of a distortion of the truth and that there's key issues relating to credibility and reliability that you'll ultimately need to determine."
The trial continues.
