CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Dunbar man claimed he is innocent of charges of molesting two underage female relatives during testimony Wednesday in Kanawha Circuit Court because he is impotent.

Darrell Eugene Smith, 61, maintained that he never groped the two victims, and that he never encouraged them to touch his genitals because it would have been pointless.

Smith said he's been impotent for six years, but didn't tell investigators after the allegations of sexual misconduct were first made in November 2005.

"It's not something I advertise," he said.

Smith faces two counts of first-degree sexual abuse and five counts of sexual abuse by a parent, guardian or custodian.

When defense attorney Gail Michelson asked him why the victims, who are sisters, would make up a story about him, Smith said he didn't know.

"I have no idea how their minds work," he said.

Both victims testified Tuesday that Smith had groped them during separate sleepovers at his house.

The Charleston Gazette does not identify juvenile victims of sexual abuse.

Under cross-examination by Kanawha County assistant prosecutor Dan Holstein, Smith suggested that a sexually charged home environment might have contributed to the girls' accusations.

"Nothing happened," he said. "It's just stuff they've been around and on TV."

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Dunbar man claimed he is innocent of charges of molesting two underage female relatives during testimony Wednesday in Kanawha Circuit Court because he is impotent.

Darrell Eugene Smith, 61, maintained that he never groped the two victims, and that he never encouraged them to touch his genitals because it would have been pointless.

Smith said he's been impotent for six years, but didn't tell investigators after the allegations of sexual misconduct were first made in November 2005.

"It's not something I advertise," he said.

Smith faces two counts of first-degree sexual abuse and five counts of sexual abuse by a parent, guardian or custodian.

When defense attorney Gail Michelson asked him why the victims, who are sisters, would make up a story about him, Smith said he didn't know.

"I have no idea how their minds work," he said.

Both victims testified Tuesday that Smith had groped them during separate sleepovers at his house.

The Charleston Gazette does not identify juvenile victims of sexual abuse.

Under cross-examination by Kanawha County assistant prosecutor Dan Holstein, Smith suggested that a sexually charged home environment might have contributed to the girls' accusations.

"Nothing happened," he said. "It's just stuff they've been around and on TV."

Smith said he did not have any medical records to substantiate his claim that his high blood sugar and blood pressure prevents him from achieving an erection. The doctor who diagnosed him has since died, he said.

Earlier, several relatives testified that the girls' parents had explicit conversations about their sex lives in front of their children and that they had seen sex toys in their home.

Smith said he had seen a DVD with "naked people" on it next to the TV in the parents' home.

He said that the victims' mother may have encouraged them to accuse him because he offered to pay for her divorce from his family member.

Dr. Fred Krieg, a professor of psychology at Marshall University, assailed the interview techniques used by investigators with the state Department of Health and Human Resources and the Dunbar Police Department.

Instead of asking open-ended questions and getting the victims to describe events in their own words, they asked leading questions with yes or no answers, he said.

"[The interviews] that I've looked at [are] totally unreliable," he said.

He said that he believed the younger victim's interview with police was coached.

During questioning by Holstein, Krieg acknowledged that just because the interview techniques were flawed did not necessarily mean that the girls were not telling the truth.

Smith's trial continues today in front of Chief Kanawha Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey Walker.

Reach Andrew Clevenger at acleven...@wvgazette.com or 348-1723.