The former Liberal party staffer Frank Zumbo has denied in court exposing his penis to a young office staffer in a park in the Sydney suburb of Willoughby and trying to kiss her in a late-night incident.
In 2018, Zumbo was chief of staff to former federal MP Craig Kelly, then the Liberal party member for Hughes, when he and the staff member stopped in a park after a late-night dinner for a cigarette.
The former junior staff member testified in the long-running case last year, telling the court that as they were sitting on a bench in Willoughby Park, he pulled the woman in close, kissing her on the cheek. The young woman then looked down.
“His pants were unzipped and his penis was out a bit,” she said.
She said she had mentally prepared for a kiss on the cheek, telling herself to “just get through this”. But after seeing “his dick on the bench”, she began crying.
“I said, ‘Frank, no, please can I just go home.’”
Under cross-examination in Sydney’s Downing Centre local court on Monday, Zumbo said while he and the staffer did stop for a late-night cigarette in the park, the incident did not happen as the staffer alleged.
“I did not unzip my pants. I did not reach out for my penis. It is not something I have ever done, I did not unzip my pants, seeking some ‘last-minute adventure’ as you put it. I did not expose my penis.”
Francesco “Frank” Zumbo, 56, has pleaded not guilty to 20 charges, including sexual touching and indecent assault, related to accusations made by five women between 2014 and 2020.
After an earlier dinner in 2015, Zumbo drove a different female staff member to a “quiet place” under Tom Uglys Bridge in Blakehurst, at about 10pm at night. Zumbo said he had a birthday gift he wanted to give the woman in private. The gift was “cash, or a gift card equivalent to cash” in an envelope.
In court, Zumbo denied he had deliberately taken her to a secluded place, saying “there were lots of fisherpersons there”.
After Zumbo gave her the gift he said he was bewildered when she failed to “reciprocate” with a kiss and a hug.
“I kept asking ‘why not’? I was pressing for an answer,” he told the court.
“I didn’t force myself in any way, I didn’t make any threat.”
In the woman’s evidence to court last year, she said Zumbo asked her to kiss him on the lips as an expression of gratitude for the gift, a request Zumbo denies making.
The alleged victim testified that she declined to kiss Zumbo on the lips and said she would rather return the gift cards. She said Zumbo then asked her for a kiss on the cheek instead, which she also declined.
She then began crying but Zumbo continued to ask for some repayment for the gift, including for her to hug him, the court heard.
The woman said after an hour of negotiating, she let Zumbo hug her for several minutes as she sat with her arms by her side.
Zumbo told the court the woman was “being difficult”.
The long-running trial, which began in June last year, has heard evidence from several female staff who alleged Zumbo groped them, sexually assaulted them and demanded displays of affection. The court has also heard several hours of covertly recorded conversations between Zumbo and the women.
The conversation over the birthday gift was one of those recorded, and in it, the woman repeatedly says she does not want to kiss Zumbo. About half an hour into the conversation, Zumbo directly asks “can I give you a birthday kiss?” and asks for her to kiss him back.
In court, magistrate Gareth Christofi intervened, asking: “why are you asking for a kiss so long after she made it clear she did not want to kiss you?”.
Zumbo said he “was looking for a face-saving way out … I was trying to scale down the situation”.
In the recording, Zumbo asked if he could touch the woman’s leg and about her “willingness to have any physical relationship in the future?”. She said no. He then asked “you don’t find me attractive?”.
Zumbo told the court on Monday he felt betrayed by the women who worked in Kelly’s office, whom he collectively referred to as “the sisters”.
“All the way along, I was being recorded … they made out I was crazy, paranoid. But I was right all the time not to trust them,” he said.
The trial continues.
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