Source : Perth Now news
A prominent athlete is adamant he was kissed by Alan Jones, telling the talkback titan’s trial he can’t erase it from his memory.
He faced the 85-year-old from across a Sydney courtroom for a third day as he described being kissed without his consent at a sporting event attended by a large crowd.
Under cross-examination by Jones’s barrister, the sportsman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, accepted there were discrepancies between his multiple statements to police and his evidence in court.
He agreed he previously testified he “froze” when Jones had kissed him on the side of his lips, but hadn’t mentioned either freezing or lips in police statements.
But the sportsman said he had gestured towards his lips when making a police statement but it was not recorded by officers.
Gabrielle Bashir SC painstakingly questioned him about where he and her client had been positioned at the function, before suggesting the kiss between the pair didn’t happen.
“I know the kiss happened because I can’t get it out of my memory,” the athlete insisted.
“What I’ve been able to say very clearly, I know.
“What I may not be able to give is who was sitting at my table and at which direction something may have happened.”
He said Ms Bashir was wrong to suggest the kiss couldn’t have occurred in any of the ways he described.
The sportsman told the court he had agonised over how to respond to a glowing message Jones sent after the function, telling him he was “beautiful tonight” and asking to catch up.
He agreed with Ms Bashir that he could have easily not responded but said he felt apprehensive about the situation.
“I wanted the kiss that happened to have never happened,” he told the court.
“I wanted things to go back to normal.”
The well-known athlete responded twice, telling Jones: “let me know when we can catch up. Lots of love.”
He alleges Jones kissed him without consent for a second time when they were at the broadcaster’s Circular Quay apartment years later.
The longtime shock jock allegedly pressed his genitals against the younger man, who said he pushed him away and told him “OK mate” in a defiant tone.
The allegations are among the 22 charges of indecent assault and sexual touching without consent that have been denied by Jones, who claims the incidents never occurred.
The charges relate to six complainants and date back from 2003 to the end of Jones’s successful and influential 35-year broadcasting career.
In addition to topping the radio breakfast slot a record number of times, he also broadcast to a national audience for years as a regular commentator on Nine’s Today show and a host of a political discussion show on Sky News.
That followed a coaching career that included stints for the Wallabies and the Balmain Tigers.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
