He said seven witnesses gave evidence of his embarrassed responses.
In October 2012 another teacher at the school walked in on the man with a young girl.
"She saw [the girl] sitting on his lap snuggling into his chest and he was cuddling her," Mr Dufty said.
"When he saw her he went bright red and shoved her off his lap... she felt so strongly she told the assistant principal."
A parent of one of the complainants also gave evidence about seeing the teacher cuddling their daughter from behind.
She said he "sprang back like a deer in the headlights, like he'd been caught doing something wrong" and described the incident as "sinister".
Charges were laid against the man when one of his students made disclosures about him pulling her pants down and smacking her when they were alone in his classroom.
A subsequent police investigation brought several other complainants forward and some time later, Child Youth and Family involvement uncovered several more girls who claimed they had been abused.
Defence lawyer Richard Earwaker said the staggered process was problematic because the case became the subject of much gossip in the playground and among parents.
"How does an atmosphere like that impact on what's coming from these children?" he said.
He said his client - a grandfather with more than 40 years' teaching experience and the recipient of a prestigious award - may have been unwise with his physical contact with students but there was nothing indecent about it.
"But being unwise or stupid doesn't make you a criminal," Mr Earwaker said.
He also warned the jury that the number of complainants did not automatically make the teacher guilty.
"It's not a numbers game," he said.
The jury will retire to consider its verdict this afternoon.
