A Victorian Christian brother sexually assaulted a boy in a chapel after the boy was told to pray for forgiveness, a jury has heard.
William Houston, 75, was a Christian brother at St Augustine's Boys' Home in Geelong in the 1970s when he allegedly assaulted the 12-year-old in the chapel before telling him it was their little secret.
The boy was sent to the chapel by another brother and told to pray for forgiveness after misbehaving at a sports carnival, Houston's Victorian County Court trial heard on Tuesday.
Houston allegedly knelt down beside the boy and began speaking kindly to him, before he guided the boy's hand onto his genitals.
He then fondled the boy's genitals, prosecutor Michael Hennessy said.
Houston abused the boy in the same way in the cubicle of a toilet block on another occasion, the trial was told.
Houston, of Glenroy, is charged with two counts of gross indecency with a male and indecent assault upon a male.
The alleged abuse took place in the early 1970s when Houston was aged 31.
The alleged victim did not approach police with a complaint until 2010.
Houston's barrister David Hallowes told the jury his client vigorously denies the charges.
He said the defence would attack the credibility and reliability of the complainant.
The boy was a ward of the state at St Augustine's when the abuse allegedly occurred.
Houston left the Christian brothers in the 1990s.
The trial continues.
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