Actor kissed and touched women, court hears during sex offence trial

The actor is on trial at the Auckland District Court on 10 charges of indecent assault and two counts of unlawful sexual connection. Photo / File

A respected actor who taught acting classes in a well-known modelling agency held secret one-on-one sessions where he would kiss them and touch students' breasts, a court has heard.

The man, who has name suppression, is on trial at the Auckland District Court on 10 charges of indecent assault and two counts of unlawful sexual connection.

In the Crown's opening statements today, the jury was told how the man was head of the agency's acting division and between 2010 and 2013 allegedly inappropriately touched four young models.

However, the defence says there was never any inappropriate touching, the women knew the classes would include kissing and that they'd conspired together after feeling slighted by the man.

The man has denied the charges.

Prosecutor Claire Paterson said the defendant afterwards approached the women, telling them they showed great potential and it could be furthered with private one-on-one sessions.

He told the women to keep the classes secret to prevent others "from getting jealous" and the agency was unaware.

During the sessions, Paterson said, the actor used acting techniques called "let me in, let me out" and "push me, pull me" when he would kiss them unexpectedly.

This developed to more intense kissing on the mouth, with tongue, then escalated to him touching their breasts over their tops and between their legs over their clothes.

Afterwards, he would tell the woman she was making great progress but was "sexually prohibited".

The women all said they felt uncomfortable, but they looked up to him as a revered acting coach, Paterson told the jury.

"In short they trusted him."

On one occasion, he allegedly removed his penis from his pants and asked one of the complainants to kiss it.

When she refused he pushed her into a chair and pleaded with her. She agreed and gave it a small kiss, Paterson said.

Afterwards, the coach told her she'd done well and was making "baby steps" to become a better actor.

However, the actor's lawyer, Ron Mansfield, said the two techniques were well-known acting exercises used around the world.

The man used them in the group classes with men and women so the women knew what they entailed.

At no point was there touching of the women's breasts or genitalia, Mansfield told the jury.

"With the advent of reality television it's probably harder to know what is real and what is make-believe but actors live in the world of make-believe."

The lawyer said the defence would examine how the complaint came about and said the four women met to exaggerate what happened to the point where he'd touched them inappropriately after they felt slighted.

Mansfield said there was some confusion about what was real and what was make-believe.

"It's what adult actors actually do."

The trial continues and is set down to take up to two weeks.