A BALLARAT man preyed upon his 12-year-old intellectually disabled niece, sexually assaulting her when she was in his care last year, a court has heard.
The man, now 40, is on trial in the County Court in Ballarat on two counts of committing an indecent act with a child under 16.
He has pleaded not guilty.
In his opening address to the jury, Crown prosecutor Brendan Kissane said the girl and the man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, were alone at her Sebastopol home on February 19 last year when the alleged incident occurred in her bedroom.
Mr Kissane told the jury he directed the girl to perform a sexual act upon herself, before simulating sex with her and ejaculating on her.
He said the incident came to light a week later when the girl told a school teacher what had occurred and subsequent forensic testing of the girl's doona by police revealed semen present matched the uncle's DNA.
Evidence will continue this afternoon in closed court.
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