My colleague Amanda Meade and I will be back from 9.30am with rolling live news coverage of day three of Alan Jones’s indecent assault trial.
Thank you to everyone who followed along.
The trial has now finished for today.
Complainant J will be back in court tomorrow via video link. He is due to continue to be cross-examined by Gabrielle Bashir SC.
Here’s a summary of what unfolded in court today:
Bashir questioned complainant J over whether he had read in the Sydney Morning Herald that a 17-year-old schoolboy had alleged he was indecently assaulted by Alan Jones ahead of making his own report. He denied that he had.
J alleged he received a letter from Jones’s company in 2012 saying he had received $110,000 after he was paid a fortnightly stipend from Jones for nearly a decade.
J detailed to the court an alleged incident where Jones told him to “go and have a shower and come out wearing a robe and nothing else”. He outlined a second alleged incident on the same evening after Jones came into his bedroom.
J told the court that a “tactic” he used to try to avoid Jones’s alleged assaults was to bring up the girlfriend he had at the time.
J said that he went to Jones’s apartment at one point with the intention to “stand up” to him, but he didn’t, and it still upsets him now.
J told the court that he disclosed the alleged indecent assaults to his then girlfriend and she told him he had to tell someone.
J said that he disclosed the indecent assaults to police after he saw on the news that Jones had been arrested on other allegations. He said he came forward because “I’m a father now, and I’m a proud father, and I want to teach my [child] right from wrong and what he was doing was wrong”.
Jones has pleaded not guilty to 22 indecent assault and sexual touching charges. Bashir on Monday argued the alleged victims were egged on to complain by media rivals, and their reliability and credibility were questionable.
Gabrielle Bashir SC is continuing to question complainant J over whether he read in the Sydney Morning Herald that a 17-year-old schoolboy had alleged he was indecently assaulted by Alan Jones ahead of making his own report.
J told the court:
double quotation markI haven’t heard anything about a schoolboy at all.
Complainant J, when asked if he had seen the articles written by SMH journalist Kate McClymont about the alleged indecent assault, said:
double quotation markI am not sure who that is.
J told the court he didn’t have a subscription to the newspaper.
Gabrielle Bashir SC has asked complainant J about news articles that were published detailing allegations made by other complainants against Alan Jones ahead of J making his own report to police.
J said there were some details he recalls reading in the news, such as that a man allegedly felt trapped in a car, and allegedly had his penis touched by Jones.
But he denied knowing about the details of other allegations mentioned in the news, including another alleged assault against a 17-year-old schoolboy.
J told the court:
double quotation markI feel like you’re talking about me there.
J was asked by Bashir to review the article that detailed the allegations of the schoolboy. He told the court:
double quotation markI haven’t seen any of these, I haven’t seen any of the details.
It’s my evidence that I haven’t read or seen any of the specifics. I have never read any of this.
Defence begins cross-examination of complainant J
The trial has resumed after the lunch break and Alan Jones’s defence barrister Gabrielle Bashir SC is beginning her cross-examination of complainant J.
Complainant J has now completed his evidence in chief.
The court has broken for lunch and is scheduled to return at 2pm. It’s expected that complainant J will be cross-examined by Alan Jones’s legal team.
Here’s an outline of what J told the court today and during his evidence yesterday.
His allegations make up nine of the total 22 charges against Jones by six complainants. Jones has denied all wrongdoing and says the allegations are either baseless or distort the truth.
The court has heard:
Jones first met complainant J when he was 14 years old and a star school athlete and “praised” his sports ability.
J alleged that Jones made a weekly deposit of $400 a week into his bank account and told him he didn’t have to tell anyone because it was a gift.
J alleged the payments, which eventually increased to $600 a week, lasted for almost a decade until 2012. That year, he allegedly received a letter from Jones’s company saying he had received $110,000.
J alleged that he was asked to drive Jones to a function in Canberra when he was 17 and, while the pair were alone in the hotel room, Jones allegedly kissed him in a “smothering” way.
J alleged that after the Canberra incident Jones told him he had “been a really good boy” and increased his weekly stipend.
J told the court he didn’t tell his coach about an alleged incident because he “felt I’d lose everything” and said that he had “come from a small family” and “was getting everything handed” to him, and it was a “wonderful life”.
J alleged that one of the indecent assault incidents occurred while he was driving Jones to his Fitzroy Falls farm and Jones grabbed his penis over his pants and then under his underpants.
He alleged two further incidents happened at the property, including one where Jones allegedly told him to “go and have a shower and come out wearing a robe and nothing else”. A second alleged incident occurred after Jones came into his bedroom, J told the court.
J told the court that a “tactic” he uses to try to avoid Jones’s alleged assaults was to bring up the girlfriend he had at the time.
J said that he went to Jones’s apartment at one point with the intention to “stand up” to him, but he didn’t, and it still upsets him.
J told the court that he disclosed the alleged indecent assaults to his then-girlfriend and she told him he had to tell someone.
J said that he disclosed the alleged assaults to police after he saw on the news that Jones had been arrested on other allegations. He said he came forward because “I’m a father now and I’m a proud father and I want to teach my [child] right from wrong and what he was doing was wrong.”
Complainant J has returned to evidence about the weekly stipend he alleges Alan Jones began to pay him when he was 17 years old.
He alleged that a letter from Jones’s company suggested he was paid $110,000 over the course of almost a decade.
The court heard the payments began in August 2003 at $800 a fortnight but increased twice, and were $1,000 a fortnight by March 2004. He stopped receiving the payment in October 2012, J told the court. At that point, it was $1,200 a fortnight, he alleged.
The payments ended after he was contacted by Jones’s accountant, who said the payments were going to stop, J told the court.
J said that by that point he didn’t have much contact with Jones:
double quotation markI wasn’t doing as well. I wasn’t competing and I was injured. Every now and again I would get a text message saying ‘I love you’. Or he would call intermittently.
Complainant J says he told police of alleged assaults after seeing Jones had been arrested
Complainant J said that he disclosed the alleged assaults to police after he saw on the news that Alan Jones had been arrested on other allegations.
“I watched it all unfold,” J told the court. “I Googled the police station and they gave me a detective’s number.”
The court heard that the detective then contacted him and he made a statement.
J said he told his brother that he had “come forward as a victim in relation to the Alan Jones’s arrest”.
J told the court:
double quotation markI feel like I’m here because of being unable to say no.
I’m a father now and I’m a proud father and I want to teach my [child] right from wrong and what he was doing was wrong. I know that it was wrong and, if there were other people out there, I had to come forward and tell my side of the story.
J said, “I don’t want money, I don’t want anything out of this”.
double quotation markI just want justice for what happened and that’s why I’m here.
I’m here because it’s the right thing to do … people need me to do this.
Complainant J says he told then-girlfriend about the alleged indecent assaults
Complainant J told the court that he disclosed the alleged indecent assaults to his then-girlfriend, and she told him he had to tell someone.
J told the court that he told his girlfriend:
double quotation markAlan Jones has been sexually touching me for a while.
Asked how he responded to the suggestion that he report the alleged indecent assaults, J – who was a teenager at the time – told the court:
double quotation markI think I said I can’t do it.
Complainant J says he intended to ‘stand up to’ Jones during Macquarie Street visit
Complainant J is now giving evidence about a visit to Alan Jones’s Macquarie Street apartment. He said he accepted the invitation because he was “going to stand up to him”.
J told the court:
double quotation markI was going to say no to everything and I was going to stand up to him … I am so disappointed [I didn’t]. I convinced myself I was going to do it.
He alleged in court that, during the visit, Jones criticised his appearance, including his clothes, hair and teeth. J alleged Jones gave him five $100 notes and told him to go and buy some clothes.
The complainant told the court he later went back to the apartment wearing the new clothes and Jones said: “That’s great, wonderful, a million times better.
double quotation markI said ‘here’s the change’. He said ‘put it in your pocket mate’ and he closed my hand.
J alleged that, after the pair had dinner, Jones said he loved him and kissed him.
double quotation markI was prepared to stand up to him and I didn’t. I just froze.
It’s different planning and thinking about something. Being in that situation, having that person, the defendant, who I saw as so powerful … I just froze. I didn’t think anyone would believe me. I thought if I did stand up to him I’d have to lose everything … I’d lose my athletics career.
It upsets me now that I didn’t.
Source: Guardian - World News
