Former Canberra childcare worker on trial for acts of indecency against two children in his care
The ACT Supreme Court jury has seen police interviews with Muhammad Ali's alleged victims. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)
In short:
A jury has seen a police interview with one of the alleged victims of a former childcare worker, in which the three-year-old said the man touched her "a lot".
Muhammad Ali, 31, is facing two counts of an act of indecency on a child under 10 relating to his alleged conduct with the girl and a four-year-old boy in 2022.
What's next?
The trial of Mr Ali, who has pleaded not guilty to both charges, continues in the ACT Supreme Court.
Warning: This story contains details of child sexual abuse.
A former childcare worker is facing trial in the ACT Supreme Court accused of committing acts of indecency on two children who were under his care.
Muhammad Ali, 31, was working at a Belconnen childcare centre in 2022 when the alleged conduct took place.
The alleged victims were a four-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl, with Mr Ali now facing two counts of an act of indecency on a child under 10.
He pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Girl tells police accused touched her 'a lot'
In court on Tuesday, the jury was shown a police interview from May 2022 with the three-year-old girl.
The girl tells the interviewing officers that Ali pulled her and another child's pants down and touched her "on the noo-noo" in the centre's play shed.
"He said he wanted to feel it," the girl tells police.
"He finished and then he pulled our pants back up."
When the girl was asked by the officers how many times Mr Ali touched her, she replied, "A lot".
Boy says he touched accused's 'privates because he touched ours first'
A police interview with the second alleged victim, conducted a year after the offences are said to have taken place, was also shown to the court.
In the interview, the boy described how Mr Ali gave him a piggyback ride before touching his and another boy's penis over their clothes near the centre's sandpit.
"What did Ali touch?" the officer asked.
"My penis, that's all. He squeezed it," the boy responded.
Later in the interview, the boy disclosed that he touched Mr Ali's "privates because he touched ours first".
"You touched Ali's penis?" the officer asked.
"Yeah," the boy responded.
"What did you use?" the officer asked.
"My hand," the boy answered.
The court heard Mr Ali's alleged conduct first came to light when a four-year-old boy made disclosures to his mother after he was picked up from the centre in April 2022.
Former childcare worker Muhammad Ali is on trial for two charges of an act of indecency on a child under 10. (ABC News)
The boy's mother gave evidence in court, describing how "everything sort of went into slow motion" when her son told her that Mr Ali had pinched his penis while his pants were on.
"I put him in the car seat … and could see he was upset," the mother told the court.
"I asked again and he said Ali had pinched him on the doodle and I said, 'Hold on a minute, who's Ali?'
"He said, 'Ali's my teacher.'"
The mother recorded the disclosure on her phone and that footage was shown to the court on Tuesday.
'He pinched me on the doodle'
In the video, the mother asked her son how it made him feel when Mr Ali pinched him.
"It just makes me feel sad and makes me not have a good day," the boy replied.
The jury was also shown a police interview with the boy in which he repeated those allegations.
"He pinched me on the doodle and it hurted [sic]," the boy told the interviewing officer.
"He thinks it was fun and it was not fun for me.
"Then I bited [sic] him, I bited him on the arm. And he didn't like it."
The mother told staff at the centre what her son had told her and was later informed Mr Ali had been stood down, pending an investigation.
The court heard that when the allegations were put to Mr Ali the next day, he laughed and asked which child had made the accusations.
The matter was later reported to ACT Policing.
'Tendency to act on' interest in young children, prosecutor says
During his opening address, prosecutor Marcus Dyason told the jury it was up to them to decide whether Mr Ali's conduct should be considered indecent.
"For an act to be indecent, it needs to be indecent according to reasonable members of the community," Mr Dyason said.
Mr Dyason also added that the prosecution alleged that Mr Ali had a tendency to show interest in young children.
"The prosecution alleges … the accused had a tendency to have an interest in young children and a tendency to act on that interest," he said.
In her much shorter opening address, defence barrister Sarah Baker-Goldsmith told the jury the case lacked objective evidence.
"Mr Ali absolutely denies the things alleged against him,"Ms Baker-Goldsmith said.
"None of these alleged incidents were captured on any of the centre's CCTV cameras.
"There is no objective evidence before you, I suggest."