A former athlete turned to Alan Jones for a character reference after he had allegedly been indecently assaulted by the veteran broadcaster on multiple occasions, starting when he was a teenager, a Sydney court has heard.
Jones, 85, is facing the first week of a months-long Local Court hearing after pleading not guilty to 22 counts of indecent assault and sexual touching without consent. Six men, who cannot be identified, allege Jones indecently assaulted or sexually touched them between 2003 and 2020 at locations across Sydney and the NSW Southern Highlands.
The first of the men to give evidence, at Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court, said he met Jones when he was 14 and a rising athletic star.
The former Wallabies coach gave him gifts ranging from a mobile phone to a car and a weekly stipend of up to $600 "as a gift" so he could focus on sport, the complainant said. He said he was grateful for the support but also fearful, because Jones subjected him to multiple non-consensual kisses and groping incidents over two years.
The payments continued after the last alleged assault, totaling more than $110,000 after nine years, the court was told.
Cross-examination begins
Under cross-examination by Jones' barrister, Gabrielle Bashir, the athlete revealed he had also leaned on Jones for a character reference after he was charged with a traffic offence, using it alongside others at his sentencing proceedings.
Bashir opened her questioning by taking him to news articles about Jones' arrest. He rejected her suggestion that he was being dishonest when he said he hadn't read newspaper reports about Jones from 2023, months before the arrest. He had by then alleged nine indecent assaults by Jones, including a painful groping incident while he was driving and another in a bedroom in which he said he was scared and nervous.
'The right thing to do'
The athlete told the court he felt he had to report the allegations to police in 2024 because it was "the right thing to do."
"What the defendant was doing was wrong and I knew it was wrong," he said. "I just want justice for what happened and that's why I'm here."
In her opening statement, Bashir suggested the athlete may have concocted the allegations and said she would test his credibility. Jones has consistently denied all the allegations against him and has been watching the complainant's evidence closely.
The hearing continues before Judge Glenn Walsh on Wednesday, when the athlete is set to face further questioning from Bashir.
