The former North-West Scout leader is on trial in the Supreme Court in Burnie charged with a range of sexual abuse crimes relating to six children, including persistent sexual abuse of a child or young person and maintaining a sexual relationship with a young person.

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The allegations relate to his time as a Scout leader between the 1970s and the 1990s.

He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

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In a video interview with Tasmania Police officers from 2016 shown to the jury on Wednesday, the man said he had in fact touched a boy's penis when he was a Scout leader.

However, the accused man said that was because the boy had become startled when urinating in the woods and caught his penis in the fly of his pants, and he had helped him.

"I had to go and take it out of his zip. I had to touch it," he told the officers.

This admission was not related to the allegations he had sexually abused boys at a number of locations in North-West Tasmania and once in Victoria while on Scout trips.

The police officers reiterated the substance of an allegation to the man, and he denied any knowledge of the accusation.

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He also denied knowing many of the names of the complainants or their family members when police stated them.

An hour or so into the video of the interview, the accused man began to anger.

"I'm starting to get angry and frustrated," he told the officers.

"Can I go now? I'm so angry. It's absolutely bloody rubbish. I'd like to go so I can calm down a bit."

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Crown prosecutor Mick Allen told the jury during opening statements on Tuesday that the majority of the abuses were alleged to have occurred in tents while camping.

Mr Allen said it was the State's case that the man had a sexual interest in young boys and a tendency to act on that interest.

The trial before Justice Michael Brett continues.

For support, you can call Launceston sexual assault support service Laurel House on 6334 2740.

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