A man accused of molesting a schoolgirl told the Supreme Court that he had never touched the child.

The 34-year-old has pleaded not guilty to six charges of sexual exploitation by a person in a position of trust. The jury was directed by Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons to no longer consider a seventh charge, of intruding on the privacy of a female.

The girl told the court last week that the accused man started touching her inappropriately in 2011, when she was 11.

Neither the child nor the defendant can be named for legal reasons.

The girl, now 15, told the jury he first touched her inappropriately in May 2011, at her home. She said he asked her if he could give her a massage and started to rub her shoulders before telling her to lie down. He then allegedly massaged her legs and moved his hands up her legs towards her groin.

But when questioned by defence lawyer Elizabeth Christopher, the accused denied touching the child in an inappropriate way.

“That didn’t happen,” he told the jury. “I came to the house that day to check on her, make sure she was there and doing her chores.

“She came into the living room talking about her shoulders and back — she was explaining that she has knots in her shoulders. I tried to explain it was because she kept all her books in her bag and needs to use her locker at school.

“She asked me for a massage. I said yes. She sat on the floor in front of the couch, I was on the couch watching TV. I started to rub her shoulders.”

He denied telling the girl to lie down. When asked if he rubbed her legs and touched her inappropriately, he replied “definitely not”.

The accused admitted he had rubbed her shoulders before, in her mother’s presence. “She tends to hurt herself all the time,” he told the court. “She has problems with her wrists and shoulders, she always complains.”

The defendant also denied touching the girl about a week later while they were exercising together.

“We exercised three times,” he said. “She told me she wanted to get fit and her mom wanted me to spend time with her. I didn’t want to exercise with her — when I run I set goals and times, I want to accomplish them.”

The girl told the jury last week he told her not to be “constrained” during exercise, so should not wear a bra or underpants.

“I didn’t say that,” he told the court.

The defendant also denied touching the girl in January last year. She said while her mother was away and he was looking after her, he woke her in the middle of the night by touching her.

“That didn’t happen,” he told the jury, adding he wasn’t at the house that month because he and the girl’s mother “weren’t speaking”.

He said their relationship did not improve until later that year. The girl told the jury last week that he also touched her in August and early September last year, and that the last time he touched her was on September 24. She said she told her mother what had been happening the next day.

“Did you touch her sexually in any way?” asked Ms Christopher.

“No,” the accused replied.

“Did you on this occasion or a previous occasion ever touch her inappropriately?”

“No,” he said.

The accused told the court the girl “used to get into trouble all the time” and would often be disciplined by her mother.

The trial continues.