One charge dropped in Alan Jones indecent assault trial as case enters eighth week
Prosecutors withdrew an indecent assault count against the 85-year-old former broadcaster mid-trial, cutting the number of complainants from six to five.
Prosecutors have withdrawn one count of indecent assault against veteran broadcaster Alan Jones in the middle of his Sydney trial, reducing the number of complainants from six to five.
Crown prosecutor Georgina Wright SC made the surprise announcement at the Downing Centre Local Court on Monday, telling the court the charge relating to the man known only as Complainant F was to be withdrawn and dismissed. No reason was given. The allegation was that Jones touched and squeezed the complainant’s bottom, over clothing, at a Sydney function in 2012, when he was 17.
Jones, 85, has consistently denied every allegation and pleaded not guilty to all remaining charges. He now faces 19 counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual touching without consent at the Downing Centre Local Court, where the trial before Judge Glenn Walsh is in its eighth week of an estimated four months.
The announcement came during evidence from the third complainant, a prominent athlete who alleges Jones kissed him without consent at a sports function more than a decade ago. The athlete spent four days in the witness box, telling the court of the alleged kiss: “I think I froze at that time.”
Three people who attended the event told the court they did not witness the alleged offence. “I didn’t see them have any contact with each other,” one testified on Monday. “Had I seen a kiss or even an embrace, I would have noticed that.”
The athlete also alleges Jones kissed him a second time at the broadcaster’s waterfront Sydney apartment, where the court was told Jones said “I love you” and pressed his genitals against the younger man’s body before being pushed off and told “OK mate”. Jones denies the kiss occurred, and his lawyer has pointed to inconsistencies in the athlete’s account of where they were positioned.
A fourth complainant, known as H, was expected to give evidence on Tuesday.
Sources
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