Source : the age
Warning: Graphic content
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the second day of Alan Jones’ lengthy criminal trial on charges of indecent assault and sexual touching. Our reporters Clare Sibthorpe and Jacqueline Maley will be bringing you the latest from the courtroom today.
On day one, the NSW Local Court in Sydney’s historic Downing Centre court complex heard allegations that Jones indecently assaulted a young athlete, starting with unwanted kissing when the man was a teenager in year 12 in the early 2000s. Jones denies the claims.
The man, now in his early 40s, gave evidence that Jones also groped him in the car as he drove the then-radio host to his Fitzroy Falls property. He said he was fearful at the time of speaking out because he didn’t want to “lose everything”.
Jones had supported the promising athlete financially, including paying him hundreds of dollars a week to focus on training and giving him a car and a mobile phone, the court heard.
Today, the man known as complainant “J” returns to the witness box. He will face cross-examination by Jones’ barrister Gabrielle Bashir, SC, after completing his evidence-in-chief.
The Crown alleges Jones indecently assaulted or sexually touched six men between 2003 and 2020 and is seeking to prove 22 charges against him, including nine indecent assault charges against “J”.
The former broadcaster has emphatically denied wrongdoing and Bashir said on Monday that the credibility and reliability of the complainants’ evidence would be tested.
“Rivalry, treachery, double-dealing, money, hatred, desperation, opportunism and more are all at the heart of this case,” Bashir said in her opening remarks to Judge Glenn Walsh.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) or the Men’s Referral Service on 1300 766 491.
Warning: Graphic content
The court has adjourned for lunch and will return at 2pm.
Complainant “J” ended his evidence-in-chief by telling the court that he came forward to police decades after he was allegedly indecently assaulted by Jones as a young athlete in the early 2000s because he wanted justice. Jones vehemently denies the allegations.
“J” had been unable to stand up to Jones at the time, he said in at times tearful evidence.
- “J” told the court that he felt like “I’m here because I haven’t been able to say no and stand up for the right thing and do the right thing.” He said it was “a proud dad, I want to teach my daughter right from wrong. What the defendant was doing, I know it was wrong.”
- The Crown alleges Jones indecently assaulted “J” nine times on four different days, starting when the complainant was in year 12 and continuing over about a two-year period.
- Earlier today, “J” gave evidence about a night he says he spent alone with Jones at the broadcaster’s Southern Highlands property. He told the court that Jones told him after dinner to shower and to “come back in a robe and nothing else”. He told the court this was the prelude to being indecently assaulted.
- At the end of his evidence, bank statements belonging to the complainant were tendered in court. “J” said that some time after his contact with Jones waned he received a call from the broadcaster’s accountant explaining that fortnightly payments Jones had been paying him for several years were about to end.
- Shortly after that, he said he received an email from the accountant or 2GB, which detailed payments totalling $110,000. The wording was confusing, he said, and he did not understand if he was being told he owed the money. “J” said he called Jones seeking clarification, and was told he did not have to repay the funds.
“J” will be cross-examined after lunch by Jones’ barrister, Gabrielle Bashir, SC.
Bank statements belonging to complainant “J” have been tendered in court.
Following what “J” has told the court was the final overnight stay at Jones’ Macquarie Street apartment, where the last alleged assault occurred against him, correspondence between him and the former broadcaster waned, the court heard.
Jones would call him sporadically or text him saying he loved him, “J” said, but the pair did not see each other much any more.
The court has heard that complainant “J” made a report to police after seeing media coverage about allegations against Jones.
“J” told the court that after watching Jones’ arrest unfold on the news, he went to the police station named in the reports and later made a statement.
Asked by prosecutor Georgina Wright, SC, why he did that, he paused briefly and then delivered these remarks:
“I’m going to be 100 per cent honest – I feel like I’m here because I haven’t been able to say no and stand up for the right thing and do the right thing.
Court has reconvened following a morning tea break.
Complainant “J” has told the court about the moment he says he told his then-girlfriend about Jones’ alleged assaults.
He said that one or two months after the last alleged unwanted kiss at Jones’ Circular Quay apartment, he told his then-partner that he was dealing with a lot.
“Alan Jones has been sexually touching me for a while now,” he told her.
“She said I’ve gotta tell someone, you have to go and report this and tell someone now… I think I said, ‘I can’t do it’.”
Complainant “J” became emotional as he told the court about a night he planned to stand up for himself while staying at Jones’ Macquarie Street apartment, known as “the Toaster”.
After enduring several alleged assaults by Jones over two years, the man said this was the night he was prepared to “stand up and say ‘this should not be happening’.”
“I was going to say no to everything … I am so disappointed that I didn’t.”
The man recalled arriving at the apartment to Jones criticising his outfit and teeth. Jones handed him five $100 notes and told him to buy new clothes, he told the court.
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Not long after complainant “J” walked into the spare bedroom at Jones’ Fitzroy Falls farm, he told the court, he heard Jones tap on the door.
This is a summary of his testimony. As we have noted earlier today, Jones denies the allegations.
Jones asked if everything was OK, the complainant told the court, “J” said it was, and Jones gave him a “cuddle”, with one hand reaching around to squeeze his bottom outside his robe.
Jones gave him a “sloppy kiss” before pulling off the man’s robe, pulling the complainants’ underpants down partially and “wriggling” his body towards him so their penises were touching.
Warning: Graphic content
After Jones allegedly told complainant “J” to shower and return in nothing but a robe, “J” said he went to shower. He told the court he put on underwear and a robe before walking back out.
Jones had moved from the dining room to the loungeroom which had a grand piano, he said, and was sitting down watching TV.
“I almost knew what was going to happen based on what had happened in the car,” the man said.
Complainant “J” recalls Jones asking him to change into nothing but a robe after they ate dinner at Jones’ Fitzroy Falls farm. This is his evidence:
The young man and Jones discussed the wine they were drinking while sitting at the dinner table. “J” commented that the wine was nice and it must be expensive. Jones responded that he only pays $2-$3 per bottle.
“J” asked if he could take a bottle home, to which Jones responded in a “very direct” manner: “You can have a bottle of wine, and you gotta remember, there is only one rule: there are no rules”.
As “J” mentioned the wine discussion, Jones, sitting in court, scribbled notes down in his notebook.
Day two of the trial has begun. Complainant “J” is resuming his evidence, speaking via an audiovisual link from a separate room. Alan Jones – who is inside the courtroom – is not in his view.
“J” is continuing to recount a night he says he spent at Jones’ Fitzroy Falls farm. Yesterday, we heard that Jones allegedly indecently assaulted him in the car on the way to the farm and kissed him non-consensually once they arrived.
Before he moves on with that evidence, prosecutor Gabrielle Wright, SC, is asking “J” for more detail about those alleged assaults.
He’s being asked to clarify certain words, such as “grabbed” and “groped”.
Wright is also asking about evidence that Jones planted a “sloppy, chomping” kiss on him at the farm’s garage and another one at the back of the property. She asked about differences in Jones’ reactions following the kisses.
“J” said that sometimes Jones would ask if the kiss was “OK” and whether he was “comfortable”, and other times he did not follow up with any comments.
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During hours of testimony on Monday, “J” said he visited Jones’ luxury apartment in the “Toaster” building on Macquarie Street several times. He said that Jones kissed him, non-consensually, on several occasions at that apartment.
But by far the most shocking evidence “J” gave was of a drive to Jones’ luxury estate Fitzroy Falls, called Elizabeth Farm, named after Jones’ mother, the complainant said.
“J” gave evidence of one occasion where he said he drove Jones to Elizabeth Farm, and Jones unbuckled his belt and pulled the young man’s penis out of his pants and squeezed it. “J” said he veered off the road and had to straighten up.
