A Sydney court has heard allegations that broadcaster Alan Jones kissed and sexually touched a teenager who he invited to his Sydney apartment and Fitzroy Falls country house.
The broadcaster’s trial on charges of indecent assault and sexual touching began in Sydney this morning and is expected to run for four months. During a series of pre-trial hearings many of the charges initially filed against Jones were dropped and the number of complainants was reduced. Jones is now facing 22 charges relating to six male complainants, including 20 counts of assaults with acts of indecency, and two counts of sexual touching.
The now 85-year-old retired broadcaster has pleaded not guilty to all charges and vowed to clear his name through the court process.
The incidents are alleged to have occurred over a 17 year period between 2003 and 2020 at Jones’ multi-million dollar Circular Quay apartment, his former property in New South Wales Southern Highlands, and on one occasion at a public event.
The names of the complainants cannot be shared publicly for legal reasons, and are referred to by a series of initials. The first complainant to take the stand was Complainant J who met Jones when he was a teenager and a promising young athlete.
Prosecutor Georgina Wright SC alleged that Jones had given the teenager a mobile phone, covered it’s bills and also paid the young man $350 a week to help with his sports training. Later the amount was increased to $600 a week, and he allegedly purchased a car for the young man to use.
On the stand Complainant J said he’d first met Jones when he visited his studio office in Pyrmont for a radio interview. He said he met Jones a second time at his office and was given a phone so they could keep in touch.
After regularly speaking on the phone to Jones the young man was invited to spend time with the broadcaster at his apartment and country house. He alleged that on one occasion after attending a dinner they went upstairs to the apartment and watched television. He recounted that they spoke about the difficulty of competing against African American athletes because of their “larger build” to which Jones allegedly said, “Oh, they’re big everywhere”, before making remarks about the sizes of people’s genitals.
At the end of their meeting he alleged that Jones gave him a “slight peck on the lips” without consent. “I stood there and I froze,” the complainant said, sharing that there was no opportunity for him to voice consent to the action.
He said on another occasion he was driven to Jones’s apartment and Jones sent him a text telling him to tell his sports coach who was driving the car to remain downstairs. When he went up to the apartment Jones allegedly kissed him again. He told the prosecutor he didn’t say anything about the incident because he was embarrassed and feared losing the regular income Jones was now paying him.
“I thought if I told someone about what was happening, I would lose everything, the car he purchased me, the payments would stop.
“I’d be embarrassed, I’d have to tell my friends and family … I’m not that inclined in that way to other men, so I didn’t want anyone to know.” he told the court.
He also alleged that on another occasion he’d been asked to drive Jones to event, while they were waiting in a hotel room he described how Jones had tried to kiss him on the mouth in a “chomping motion”. He also alleged that while driving the broadcaster to his country house Jones had reached under his clothes a grabbed his penis.
He said Jones had asked him, “What’s that?” to which he responded “It’s my penis” before Jones allegedly asked him if it felt good while still holding his penis a squeezing it.
“He was saying things like ‘wow that’s impressive’ and ‘does that feel good? that is very impressive’.” Complainant J said he did felt trapped in the car and couldn’t do anything to stop the touching.
“”I was driving along a windy road going 80 kilometres an hour, in a Mercedes probably worth more than my life.” he said, while noting that Jones was one of the most powerful men in the country at the time.
The testimony from Complainant J will continue on Tuesday. Nine of the 22 charges in the case relate to his alleged interactions with Jones. Prior to the trial beginning Jones’s legal team had asked the judge to grant a suppression order to stop the details of Complainant J’s testimony being made public, but the judge denied their request.
In her opening address to Judge Glenn Walsh, the prosecutor laid out multiple situations where Jones is alleged to have inappropriately touched the men who are set to testify against him.
A Sydney court has heard allegations that broadcaster Alan Jones kissed and sexually touched a Year 12 student whom he had invited to his Sydney apartment and Fitzroy Falls country house.
The broadcaster’s trial on charges of indecent assault and sexual touching began in Sydney on Monday and is expected to run for four months.
During a series of pre-trial hearings, many of the charges initially filed against Jones were dropped and the number of complainants was reduced. Jones is now facing 22 charges relating to six male complainants, including 20 counts of assault with acts of indecency and two counts of sexual touching.
The 85-year-old retired broadcaster has pleaded not guilty to all charges and vowed to clear his name through the court process.
The incidents are alleged to have occurred over a 17-year period between 2003 and 2020 at Jones’ Circular Quay apartment, his former property in the New South Wales Southern Highlands and, on one occasion, at a public event.
The names of the complainants cannot be published for legal reasons and they are referred to by a series of initials.
The first complainant to take the stand was Complainant J, who met Jones when he was a teenager and a promising young athlete.
Prosecutor Georgina Wright SC alleged that Jones had given the teenager a mobile phone, covered its bills and paid him $350 a week to assist with sports training. The amount was later increased to $600 a week and Jones allegedly purchased a car for the young man to use.
Giving evidence, Complainant J said he first met Jones when he visited his Pyrmont studio office for a radio interview. He said he met Jones a second time at the office and was given a phone so they could keep in touch.
After regularly speaking by phone, the young man said he was invited to spend time with Jones at his apartment and country house. He alleged that after one dinner they returned to the apartment and watched television together.
The complainant told the court that during a discussion about athletics, Jones allegedly made comments about people’s genitalia. He then alleged Jones gave him a “slight peck on the lips” without consent.
“I stood there and I froze,” the complainant said, adding that he felt he had no opportunity to consent.
The complainant alleged that on another occasion Jones kissed him again after he arrived at the apartment. He told the court he did not report the incident because he was embarrassed and feared losing the financial support Jones was providing.
“I thought if I told someone about what was happening, I would lose everything. The car he purchased for me, the payments would stop.
“I’d be embarrassed, I’d have to tell my friends and family. I’m not that inclined in that way to other men, so I didn’t want anyone to know.”
The complainant also alleged that on another occasion he had been asked to drive Jones to an event. While waiting in a hotel room, Jones allegedly attempted to kiss him on the mouth. He further alleged that while driving Jones to his country property, the broadcaster reached under his clothing and touched his penis.
According to the complainant, Jones then made remarks while touching him. The complainant said he felt trapped and unable to stop the alleged conduct.
“I was driving along a windy road going 80 kilometres an hour, in a Mercedes probably worth more than my life,” he told the court, adding that Jones was one of the most powerful men in the country at the time.
The testimony of Complainant J is expected to continue on Tuesday.
In her opening address to Judge Glenn Walsh, Wright outlined a number of incidents in which Jones is alleged to have inappropriately touched the complainants due to give evidence during the trial.
Jones’ barrister, Gabrielle Bashir, told the court her client vehemently denies the allegations and that the complainants’ evidence would be tested through the court process. She also argued that rivalry, treachery, double-dealing, money, hatred, desperation and opportunism were factors in the case, while alleging media rivals had played a significant role.
If convicted, Jones faces a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment.
The alleged offences span over two decades when Jones was the king of Sydney talkback radio. The broadcaster ruled Sydney’s airwaves for four decades before moving to a role at Sky News and later online broadcaster ADT. Allegations about Alan Jones being involved in decades of alleged inappropriate behaviour were first reported in the Nine newspapers.
