Court documents reveal more details about charges against Australian broadcaster Alan Jones
By Jamie McKinnell, for ABC
Warning: This story discusses details of alleged sexual abuse. A list of helplines is at the end of the article.
- Court documents have shed slightly more light on allegations against broadcaster Alan Jones
- The offences are alleged to have occurred at various locations including Sydney, Kiama, Newtown and Fitzroy Falls
- What’s next?: Jones remains on bail and his first court appearance is not expected for another fortnight.
Court documents have revealed more details about historical charges laid against broadcaster Alan Jones, including allegations he touched or fondled complainants’ genitals and squeezed bottoms.
Jones was charged last month with 26 offences spanning two decades, after police executed a search warrant at his Sydney harbourside home.
The charges relate to nine complainants in total.
The 83-year-old’s lawyer, Chris Murphy, has said Jones will “assert his innocence appropriately in the courtroom” and defend the matter.
Although his first court appearance is not expected for another fortnight, court documents outlining brief descriptions and date ranges for each charge have shed slightly more light on the allegations.
Allegations laid out in court documents
The charges include 11 counts of aggravated indecent assault, 11 of assault with act of indecency, two of sexually touching another person, and two of common assault.
Jones is alleged to have kissed one complainant, Complainant A, “using his tongue” at Fitzroy Falls in 2017, resulting in one of the charges of assault with an act of indecency.
In 2001, the broadcaster is alleged to have touched and fondled the penis of another man, known as Complainant B, on separate occasions, and “kissed him on the lips”.
Between 2008 and 2009, he is alleged to have committed 11 offences against a man known as Complainant C, including allegations that on separate occasions he touched his penis, rubbed his penis, kissed him on the mouth, touched his inner thigh and squeezed his knee.
The court documents outline those charges as featuring an element of aggravation because Complainant C was under the authority of Jones as an employee.
In 2008, in relation to a fourth complainant, it is alleged Jones stroked his right thigh, touched his bottom and “touched his penis pulling his scrotum”.
He is also alleged to have “touched and squeezed” the bottom of a man known as Complainant F in 2012.
The court documents say the offences are alleged to have occurred at various locations, including Sydney, Kiama, Newtown and Fitzroy Falls.
Police have previously said Jones knew the complainants both personally and professionally and that the youngest was aged 17 at the time.
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said the investigation was “very complex”, while Assistant Commissioner Michael Fitzgerald said historical matters were “incredibly hard to investigate”.
A strike force was established in March to investigate allegations from between 2001 and 2019.
Jones was surrounded by media last month as he left a Sydney police station and made no comment.
Murphy said while allegations had been made, nothing had been tested or proven in court.
Jones remains on bail.
– ABC
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