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One said he had touched her bottom with a needle.

There were accusations that Peter had made children bathe with him, had hit and kicked them, attempted oral and penetrative rape, placed food against a child's anus, and forced them to drink urine.

The prosecution shared these allegations with the court by airing excerpts of the children's taped interviews, then questioning the children briefly via video link.

After this, Peter Ellis' defence barrister cross-examined them,

Rob Harrison asked about positive memories the children had of Peter and tried to expose ways that their evidence might have been contaminated by outside sources, such as the abuse-themed books provided to parents or conversations they might have overheard in the community.

When Harrison told the children that Peter denied ever harming them, their responses were mixed.

That's not true, one said.

He did, said another.

But one responded, It's very hard to remember.

I know very well some are true, and then I think, is that one true or what?

While questioning the eighth complainant, Harrison asked her, Can you remember the first two tapes you made with DWS interviewer Kathy Crawford?

We first learnt about all the things Peter did and then we came on screen and did it, the girl replied.

You learnt it all before you came on the screen, Harrison clarified.

Yes.

Who taught it to you before you came on the screen?

The girl answered, Cathy, and she told me what Peter did.

Following this, the judge discharged Ellis of the counts relating to this particular child.

The prosecution's expert witness was a child psychiatrist named Karen Zellis who had supervised the social workers responsible for the children's interviews.

She provided the court with a list of behaviours that were characteristic of child sexual abuse, including sleep disturbances, nightmares, toileting issues, mood changes, headaches, stomach aches, sadness, crying, separation anxiety, sexualised play and others.

She explained that most children who had been sexually abused failed to disclose at the time the abuse was happening and would initially deny when later questioned about it.