A NORTHERN Tasmanian man standing trial for allegedly raping his stepdaughter said he woke after a night of drinking in 2010 to find himself having sex with her.
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``I don't know if I was dreaming or what, I know I was drunk, and then when I woke up I was having sex with (my stepdaughter),'' the man told police in a recorded interview played in the Supreme Court in Launceston yesterday.
``I don't know what happened, I was so ashamed of myself and I apologised so sincerely the next day.''
The 45-year-old is accused of raping the then 14-year-old on the couch in their family living room on September 10, 2010.
He is also accused of indecently assaulting the girl by touching her breast in the lounge room a week later, and then indecently assaulting her on a woodcutting expedition at Blessington a week after that.
The man took the witness stand yesterday.
He said he woke to find himself receiving oral sex and assumed it was his wife.
He said he realised his mistake when they began having sex but did not push his stepdaughter off ``right away''.
``Why didn't you push her off?'' Crown prosecutor Peter Sherriff asked.
``Because I was a little bit excited,'' he said.
The man has admitted to having sex with the girl but denied it was without consent, and denied both counts of indecent assault.
On Wednesday, the girl, appearing via video link, told the court the man had approached her when she was lying on the couch and she had been ``too drunk'' to move or call for help.
Defence counsel Graeme Richardson suggested to the girl that she had made up the rape allegation to get rid of her stepfather.
Mr Richardson also questioned the girl about her breast size and whether she liked to dress provocatively.
The man's former defence lawyer, Adrian Hall, also took the witness stand.
Mr Hall said the man told him in October last year that he would plead guilty to these charges, after which Mr Hall sent a letter to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
``I advise that I now have instructions from (the man) to plead guilty to all counts on the indictment,'' the letter read.
``Very shortly after that, in that week, he came back and said in fact I'm not guilty and I don't want to plead that I am,'' Mr Hall said.
The trial continues today.