Two young girls say a 66-year-old Dexter Township man repeatedly exposed himself to them, showed one of the girls a pornographic movie and attempted to force one of the girls to touch him.

The girls, ages 8 and 9, testified today when the criminal trial got under way for Dennis Schwartzenberger. Schwartzenberger is charged with five counts of aggravated indecent exposure, three counts of accosting children for immoral purposes and one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person under 13.

Many of the incidents occurred when the girls accompanied Schwartzenberger in a boat in the pond behind his rural home, the girls testified.

When Assistant Prosecutor Sam Holtz asked one girl whether Schwartzenberger did anything during the summers of 2008 or 2009 to make her uncomfortable, she said he exposed himself “more than 10 times.”

“He would pull up the sleeve of his shorts and show me his private parts,” she said.

The first victim said she went inside to use Schwartzenberger’s bathroom on one occasion, and he asked her to come in the basement. He had her sit on a couch and view a pornographic movie and exposed himself, she testified.

She said she quickly fled the basement.

“After watching it for a minute, I knew what it was about, and I wasn’t allowed to watch it, so I ran outside,” she said.

The girl also testified Schwartzenberger tried to force her to touch him on several occasions, but she refused.

When defense attorney Rolland Sizemore cross-examined the girl, she said Schwartzenberger also told her he wanted to perform oral sex on her.

The second victim also said Schwartzenberger exposed himself to her on multiple occasions.

When asked what they said to Schwartzenberger when he exposed himself, both girls said they told him it was inappropriate.

“I’d say, 'Put your short sleeve down I don’t want to see that,'” the first victim testified.

The girls said they didn’t immediately tell any adults what was going because they didn’t know what to do.

“I thought he was going to stop after one time, or every time, and I didn’t know if I should or shouldn’t talk to my mom, so I just didn’t,” the second girl said.

According to testimony, the allegations came to light on June 8, 2009, when one girl started crying because her brother, who also frequented the pond, insisted he tell his mother what was happening.

“(The brother) told me that I should tell my mom so we could go to court and this would all be over with,” she said.

Schwartzenberger's trial will continue Tuesday morning.

Tom Perkins is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. Reach the news desk at news@annarbor.com or 734-623-2530.