The jury in a trial of a family friend accused of molesting two sisters has been discharged after it was unable to reach verdicts.
The ACT Supreme Court discharged jurors on Tuesday due to an inability to agree and other information received by the court.
The trial of the now 30-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, began last month.
He is accused of indecently assaulting the girls, with the youngest aged six or seven at the start of the alleged crimes, spanning several years dating back to 2011.
The man had pleaded not guilty to four counts of committing an act of indecency on a young person, four counts of committing an act of indecency without consent, and one count of sexual assault in the third degree.
On Tuesday, Chief Justice Lucy McCallum spoke directly to jurors after relieving them of their duty.
"Please don't feel that your time has been wasted. On the contrary, the process of trying the evidence and debating it ... that's the process," she said.
"Serving on a jury is not easy. Sitting in judgment of people accused of serious offences is not easy."
The man, who was the son of family friends, is accused of touching the girls' genitals and kissing them when they visited his house.
It is alleged that he asked the youngest girl to sit on his lap when she was aged six or seven, before touching her arms, kissing her and rubbing her genitals.
The man is also accused of indecently assaulting and sexually assaulting the older sister, starting when she was aged 14 or 16.
One of the allegations involved the accused grabbing the older girl, pulling her into his bedroom, pushing her down on a bed and trying to kiss her.
He also allegedly touched the older girl's bottom multiple times during a family party when she was aged between 15 and 16.
The man denies the allegations.
The case is set to go before a registrar on October 19, when the prosecution may determine whether to retry the case.
