![Muhammad Ali, 29, leaves court on Tuesday. Picture by Hannah Neale Muhammad Ali, 29, leaves court on Tuesday. Picture by Hannah Neale](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/DaHt57RjVSvtvCBUgFzTWj/f568c79b-2250-427e-b5f9-7d3256d12535.jpg/r0_113_3003_1801_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A childcare worker is accused of committing indecent acts on three children at a daycare facility, with one of his alleged victims telling police the man was "a teacher who sometimes pinches people on the doodle".
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Muhammad Ali, of Scullin, faced the first day of a jury trial in the ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday.
The 29-year-old has pleaded not guilty to three counts of committing an act of indecency on a child.
Ali denies touching the genitals of three children, aged between three and four, while he worked at a Canberra daycare centre in 2022.
During opening submissions on Tuesday, prosecutor Trent Hickey said he expected the evidence would show that when Ali was asked about the allegations by his employer he laughed and asked "who?".
Mr Hickey told the jury that at about 4.30pm on April 21 last year, a woman picked up her four-year-old son, who told her he'd had "a bad day" at daycare.
"[The boy] continued to tell her that Ali had been mean to him and his friends, and that Ali had touched his doodle when they were outside playing," Mr Hickey said.
While the boy sat in a child seat in the back of the car, the mother started to record the conversation.
It is alleged the four-year-old told his mother he felt sad and claimed he was telling the truth.
The mother spoke to staff at the daycare centre and Ali was immediately stood down pending investigations, Mr Hickey told the jury.
When questioned, Ali allegedly told his superiors at the centre that the boy was upset because the child had bitten him and pushed his backside into the accused's hand.
"In the meantime, another mother had noticed her three-year-old daughter had started acting strangely," Mr Hickey said.
During bath time, the other mother noticed her child's genitals were red and inflamed, but the girl claimed she'd fallen on a metal playground, the prosecutor told the jury.
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Shortly afterwards, the two women spoke at a birthday party, prompting the mother of the girl to ask further questions.
It is alleged the girl then told her mother Ali had pulled her pants down, touched her private parts, and it "happened a lot".
Mr Hickey claimed the three-year-old told police Ali had also touched her older brother's "nu nu" during the same alleged incident.
The girl was "quite distracted" in an environment with lawyers in gowns and a number of people present in court, Mr Hickey said.
A police interview with one of the alleged victims was played to the court.
Speaking with an officer, the boy said Ali had "pinched him on the doodle".
When asked who Ali was, the four-year-old responded: "He is a teacher who sometimes pinches people on the doodle."
The boy said to police he "bited [Ali] on the arm" and that "pinching people hurts people".
Ali's defence barrister, James Sabharwal, did not address the jury.
The trial, before Justice Belinda Baker, continues.
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