Court hears how ex-Wallabies coach Alan Jones kissed and groped man

The second week of Alan Jones’s sexual misconduct trial has ended, as an ex-radio staffer alleges a power imbalance stopped him bringing forward claims earlier.

A former radio station employee felt he could not tell anyone he was being indecently assaulted by Alan Jones because of the talkback titan’s extraordinary power and influence.

He is one of six men who allege Jones kissed, groped or subjected them to sexual misconduct between 2003 and 2020 across Sydney and the NSW Southern Highlands.

The 85-year-old has pleaded not guilty to 22 charges of indecent assault and sexual touching without consent.

Eight charges relate to a former radio station employee, the second complainant to enter the witness box on Friday in Jones’s marathon NSW Local Court hearing.

He told the court he was longtime fan of Jones and talkback radio before they met at an event, which left him “starstruck”. 

Aged 18, he aspired to work in radio and was delighted to land a role at a radio station where Jones dominated Sydney’s airwaves. 

“It was a dream to work at that radio station and to be able to say I worked with Alan Jones,” the former radio staffer said. 

But the dream started to become a nightmare when Jones began “love bombing” him in text messages that became sexually explicit, which he demanded the younger man delete. 

Although the former radio staffer avoided suggestive replies, he felt he had to respond to assuage Jones because he did not know what would happen if he did not. 

“It would not have been pleasant,” he said. 

“I know what it’s like to cop his wrath, to be yelled at, ostracised.”

Jones allegedly escalated behaviour by groping the former radio staffer while he drove, making him very uncomfortable. 

The former radio station staffer said he swatted the hand away, but it didn’t stop Jones from trying again later by touching the younger man’s groin. 

The younger man said he froze and felt violated.

“I was scared,” he told the court. 

“If I told him to stop, I don’t know what would have happened. You had to cop it.”

He dissolved into tears as he described how Jones had cornered him in the lift of his Circular Quay apartment and kissed him. 

“I moved my head, saying no,” the man said, his voice breaking. 

“I didn’t want him to kiss me.”

He told the court it was the first of three uninvited kisses in the lift, including one in which Jones held his face in an intimate way and kissed him as though they were in a movie. 

“I felt trapped,” the former radio station employee said. 

When asked why he didn’t tell the former Wallabies coach to stop, he explained that he didn’t think he had that option. 

“The power dynamic was extraordinary,” he told the court. 

“I couldn’t say no.”

He elaborated after being asked why he didn’t push Jones off during further alleged non-consensual kisses.

“You couldn’t. He was Alan Jones,” the former radio station employee said emphatically. 

“The power he had was extraordinary. The reason I couldn’t speak up was out of fear I’d lose my job.”

Jones could determine whether he continued to be employed in his dream industry, he told the court. 

“Alan was protected. He was the golden goose. He brought in the money,” he said. 

The former radio station staffer said he regretted not fighting back or saying no louder.

When colleagues witnessed Jones groping him under the table at an event, they had joked about it and left him deeply embarrassed, the former radio staffer said. 

“I didn’t want people knowing what he was doing to me,” he told the court.

“I didn’t want them thinking I was Alan’s toy.”

Jones has denied the allegations against him, which are said to have occurred during the latter part of his 35-year broadcasting career, when he had a stranglehold on Sydney’s airwaves.

He also broadcast to a national audience for years as a regular commentator on Nine’s Today show and a host of a political discussion show on Sky News.

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