A Brisbane Catholic school priest and teacher took nude photographs of a young student on school grounds and at school excursions over several years from the mid-1970s, a Brisbane court has heard.

Key points: The sexual abuse began with nude photos on a school hiking trip, the court heard

The sexual abuse began with nude photos on a school hiking trip, the court heard Abuse also occurred on school grounds and on a retreat in Clayfield

Abuse also occurred on school grounds and on a retreat in Clayfield Prosecutor Russell Clutterbuck says other students will testify Mr Endicott also took photos of them

Former Villanova College priest Michael Ambrose Endicott, 75, pleaded not guilty in the District Court in Brisbane to eight counts of unlawfully and indecently dealing with a child under 12 years old and under 16 years old.

The abuse allegedly took place over a six-year period from 1975 to 1981 while Mr Endicott was a teacher and priest at Villanova College on Brisbane's southside.

Prosecutor Russell Clutterbuck told the jury the offending started when the complainant — who cannot be identified for legal reasons — was nine years old and on a school hiking trip in 1975.

Mr Clutterbuck said the crown alleged Mr Endicott approached the boy while he was setting up camp, asked him to accompany him to get water from a nearby river, then asking him to strip naked.

"The defendant directed him [the boy] to pass his swimmers to him and pose behind a tree so his genitals were covered, he then directed him to stand in front of the tree and lie on a boulder," Mr Clutterbuck said.

"When he was on the boulder, he was directed to lie on his back, his knees bent, legs spread apart and the defendant took photographs."

The court was told that on another occasion in 1979 when the complainant was 12 years old, he was waiting outside Villanova's administration building when Mr Endicott asked for his help in the school's flag tower.

Mr Clutterbuck said when they reached the top landing in the tower, Mr Endicott told the boy to remove his clothes and he took photos for 15 minutes during a lunch break.

'You must be hot in there'

The prosecutor also told the court Mr Endicott allegedly asked the complainant to attend a retreat in Clayfield in 1980 and that when they arrived the boy entered a room and began painting.

"[The complainant] will tell you Endicott walked into the room and said, 'You must be hot in there, you should take your shirt off' and that the defendant began taking photos of him in various states of undress," Mr Clutterbuck said.

The court heard Mr Endicott then allegedly asked the boy to arouse himself by masturbating and then he took more photographs.

Mr Clutterbuck said on the same occasion Mr Endicott touched the boy's backside and put his mouth on his penis.

The court was also told of another alleged incident at a school sports afternoon in 1981 when Mr Endicott took the boy to a female change room and asked him to strip naked before taking photos of him in the shower and drying off.

Mr Clutterbuck said the crown would call two other former Villanova College students as witnesses and that they would testify that Mr Endicott also took photos of them.