A West Australian MP on trial for child sexual abuse admitted the crimes in an email to his wife before he was charged, a court has been told.
James Dorrin Hayward has pleaded not guilty to four offences relating to the alleged abuse of an eight-year-old girl.
Prosecutor Sean Stocks on Monday said the 53-year-old made the girl indecently touch him on three occasions at two homes while putting her to bed.
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"He told police in an interview that he had fallen asleep on her bed," Stocks told the District Court in Perth during his opening.
"He also told police he would get under the covers with (the girl) while he was reading to her."
Hayward is also accused of showing the child how to search for pornography on the internet before her family discovered the alleged offences and reported them to police.
The jury was told Hayward was close to his alleged victim and occasionally privately messaged with her.
He also allegedly told the girl to keep their interactions secret amid warnings from his wife not to get too close to the child for fear an allegation could be made against him.
Hayward resigned from the WA Nationals after the charges were laid in 2021 but continued to sit in the state's upper house as an independent MP.
Stocks said that after he learned about the allegations against him, Hayward wrote a letter to his wife in which he said he would be accused of child abuse and would take his own life.
"He penned the first draft of what was ostensibly a suicide note," Stocks said.
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Hayward allegedly sent the letter via email a week later, with an additional line.
"He added the phrase 'which I have done' with a sad face emoji," Stocks said.
Hayward's lawyer Tom Percy KC said Hayward's email was "foolish in the extreme" and a "misguided gesture" written during a stressful time in his life, and not an admission of guilt.
He said it was an irrational decision that contained no reference to the substance of the allegations and instead addressed his wife's former warnings.
"He was at the time under an enormous amount of financial and business pressure," he said.
"He was in a complete state of shock on hearing of these sexual allegations, not because they were true but quite the opposite."
Percy said Hayward's former business had also recently failed and he owed about $440,000, and he was aware of the publicity the abuse allegations would attract.
"Coupled with the ongoing financial disaster surrounding him, he felt he just didn't have the strength to deal with those consequences," he said.
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He said Hayward believed suicide, which he did not attempt to do, would protect his and the victim's families.
Percy also told the jury the child's family learned about the alleged abuse after she was found accessing pornography on the internet and "she knew in all probability she would lose the use of her iPad".
"She needed a scapegoat and she needed one quickly and under pressure, we say, she nominated James," he said.
"It is almost certain she had no idea of the enormity of the allegations she was making."
He also said there was no medical or other physical evidence that shows his client is guilty of the crimes.
But there was "serious doubt over the child's honesty".
A 35-minute video of the police interview with the child shows the child sitting under a table while she is questioned.
The trial continues.
National Domestic Violence Service: 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732). If you are in immediate danger call triple zero (000).
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