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.
Updated
Day two concludes
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.
Updated
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:
I 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:
I am not sure who that is.
J told the court he didn’t have a subscription to the newspaper.
Updated
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:
I 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:
I 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.
Updated
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.”
Updated
Broadcaster allegedly paid complainant $110,000 over course of a decade, court hears
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:
I 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.
Updated
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:
I 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”.
I 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.
Updated
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:
Alan 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:
I think I said I can’t do it.
Updated
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:
I 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.
I 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.
I 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.
Updated
Complainant J has spoken about a second visit to Alan Jones’s Fitzroy Falls property, where no alleged assault occurred.
He told the court that before this visit he had done “whatever I could to not go there on my own”.
He said he accepted the invitation after he asked Jones if his family could come too, and Jones agreed.
J told the court his family then left and he stayed the night at the farm.
He told the court that he wasn’t Jones’s only guest – a former tennis player and his son were also visiting the property.
Updated
Complainant says Jones ‘groped’ him on the bum and ‘it was aggressive’
Warning: this post contains graphic content.
Complainant J is now giving evidence about a second alleged indecent assault that allegedly occurred at Alan Jones’s Fitzroy Falls farm.
J told the court this morning that after the first alleged indecent assault on the same evening, he and Jones watched TV for a while and discussed sport.
J “mentioned I was getting tired and I was going to bed”.
After J, who was 17 at the time, went to his room, he alleged that he heard a “tap, tap, tap” and Jones came into the room.
He said ‘is everything OK [J]?’
J alleged Jones came closer and said in a “really passionate voice … ‘I love you mate’ and pulled me in for a cuddle”.
He alleged that Jones “groped” him on the bum and that “it was aggressive”.
While I was being held by the buttocks he reached around and undid my robe and he pulled my underpants down a quarter way down my legs.
He started to wiggle his body so our penises would cross and touch each other.
There was a slight opportunity where the grip … was released … I was able to step back and sat on the bed, and said I was going to go to bed.
J alleged that Jones then walked to the other side of the bed.
My heart was racing. I was as scared and nervous as I had been in a long time. It was that feeling when you go into a room you’ve never been in, like a scary room, my heart felt like it was going to come out of my chest.
The defendant placed his hand on my penis and began to squeeze it tight and release it. I was frozen.
J alleged Jones then said “let’s come together” and they both masturbated.
I thought if I do this, and I just do it myself, it can be over … and would prevent him from doing it or being near me or touching me. I thought it was the quickest way to make it over and done with, and that’s what happened.
J told the court he did not consent to what unfolded in the room.
Updated
Complainant J tells court he would mention his girlfriend to try to avoid Jones’s assaults
Complainant J has told the court that a “tactic” he’d use to try to avoid Alan Jones’s alleged assaults was to bring up the girlfriend he had at the time.
J said he used this tactic during the alleged assault at the Fitzroy Falls property.
He told the court:
I already mentioned to him that I’d never done anything like that with a man. I thought if I brought up my girlfriend it would help.
Updated
Broadcaster allegedly told teenager ‘have a shower and come out wearing a robe and nothing else’
A reminder of our warning that this live blog may contain graphic content when discussing evidence in the trial.
Complainant J has alleged that after he and Alan Jones finished dinner at Jones’s Fitzroy Falls property, Jones told him “to go and have a shower and come out wearing a robe and nothing else”.
Prosecutor Georgina Wright asked:
Did you do it?
J, who was a teenager at the time of the alleged incident, responded:
No, I put my underpants on and then I put the robe on and went out.
The defendant was in a room with a grand piano, the court heard.
Wright said: “Why did you put the underpants on?”
J told the court: “I almost knew what was going to happen … he’s going to touch me.”
J alleged Jones was sitting on the lounge, also in a robe and was drinking a glass of wine.
J alleged that Jones “looked me straight in the eye” and said in a “quiet”, “calm” and “sympathising tone”: “I said the robe and nothing.”
J alleged in court that Jones then “put his hand back on my penis and started rubbing it”.
Updated
Complainant J begins today’s evidence via video link
Complainant J has begun his evidence again today, appearing via video link.
The prosecutor, Georgina Wright, is clarifying evidence about an incident detailed by J yesterday.
J alleged that one of the indecent assaults occurred while he was driving Jones to his Fitzroy Falls farm. J alleged that Jones grabbed his penis over his pants and then under his underpants.
He also alleged that, when he got out of the car, Jones kissed him without his consent.
J told the court this morning:
It was always a kiss or an action first. Then I’d be asked if ‘this is OK, are you comfortable with that?’
However, he said that did not occur during this particular alleged incident.
There was no follow-up. It was straight into ‘let’s go look at the house and the property’.
On some occasions there was a cuddle beforehand or an indicator to make me believe a kiss was coming. But on that occasion he gave me a kiss much quicker than I expected.
Updated
Alan Jones has arrived in the courtroom. The proceedings are expected to kick off again in a moment.
Updated
On day one of the trial, the court heard several of the nine alleged indecent assaults against complainant J.
In case you missed our live coverage yesterday, below is a wrap of what was alleged in the first day of J’s evidence in chief.
Once J’s evidence in chief on each of the nine allegations is complete, he will be cross-examined by Alan Jones’s legal team.
-
Alan Jones first met complainant J when he was 14 years old and a star school athlete and “praised” him about 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, who was a teenager at the time, alleged that he was asked to drive Jones to a function in Canberra, 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.
Updated
The trial is expected to resume at 10am with complainant J continuing his evidence. I’m in court now with Amanda Meade to follow all the developments on day two.
If you want a summary of what happened yesterday, you can read Ben Doherty’s analysis below.
The booming voice, the vast radio audience, the bully pulpit of an eponymous TV show, the great and the good on speed-dial, a staffer in the prime ministerial office dubbed the ‘minister for Alan Jones’: these were not ancillaries peripheral to the Jones empire, they were central to it.
Even walking into court on Monday, at the centre of a glacially moving press pack, it was all about Alan.
That evaporated as soon as he stepped inside the claustrophobic confines of court 3.1.
Here he is simply ‘the defendant’.
Updated
Welcome
Welcome to day two of the Alan Jones indecent assault trial.
On Monday, a former schoolboy athlete told the court he didn’t tell anyone that the broadcaster, now 85, was allegedly kissing him and touching his genitalia when he was a teenager because he was “fearful” of losing Jones’s financial support.
The man, known as complainant J, is expected to continue giving evidence via video link on Tuesday.
J is the first of six complainants expected to give evidence of their alleged indecent assault by Jones, who is facing 22 charges. The trial before judge Glenn Walsh at Downing Centre local court is expected to run for four months and hear from 76 witnesses.
Jones has denied all wrongdoing and said the allegations are either baseless or distorted the truth.
Jones’s defence barrister Gabrielle Bashir SC on Monday argued that the alleged victims had been egged on to complain by media rivals – and their reliability and credibility were questionable.
I’m Jordyn Beazley and I’ll be keeping you up to date throughout the day alongside my colleague Amanda Meade.
Updated
