Top radio host pleads guilty to abusing 10 people
Veteran Australian broadcaster Alan Jones has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting 10 young men over nearly two decades.
The 83-year-old man faces 34 charges, including 11 counts of aggravated indecent assault, over alleged incidents between 2001 and 2019.
Mr Jones is one of Australia’s most influential media personalities and a former coach of its national rugby union team. He has previously denied the abuse allegations, which were first published by The Sydney Morning Herald in 2023.
Appearing in court, he spoke publicly for the first time since his arrest last month, saying: “I have never abused these people.”
“I want you to understand this: All of these allegations are either baseless or they distort the truth, and you should know that before my arrest the police did not give me any opportunity to respond to any of these allegations Was.”
Mr Jones was taken into custody at his Sydney apartment on 18 November, when detectives from the New South Wales (NSW) Police Child Abuse Squad searched the harbour-front property and seized electronic devices.
Originally charged in connection with eight people – including a 17-year-old boy – police have since filed additional charges, and say the investigation is ongoing.
All charges except two charges of common assault are sex offences.
Police said some of the alleged victims knew the radio and TV host personally, and at least one was employed by him.
Michael Fitzgerald of NSW Police told reporters last month that he was allegedly attacked by other people when they met him for the first time.
“The law finds me not guilty, and I plead not guilty,” Mr Jones told media waiting for him after his first court appearance in Sydney on Wednesday.
“That’s all I can say at the moment, but I am determined that I will defend myself to every charge before a jury at the appropriate time.”
A former teacher, Mr Jones coached the Wallabies between 1984 and 1988, before turning to a radio career.
He also, at times, acted as a speechwriter and advisor to Liberal Party leaders – including former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser – and made several unsuccessful attempts to represent the party in both state and federal politics. .
Head of the Sydney airwaves at local station 2GB for decades, Mr Jones combined those duties with TV commentary programs before retiring from full-time work in 2020, citing health problems.
The broadcaster is a polarizing figure, commanding one of the country’s largest audiences over the years but often courting controversy.
He made headlines in 2012 by suggesting that then-Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s father had “died of shame”, and in 2019 faced a massive advertiser boycott after saying that someone who was then New Zealand’s leader should “A sock should be put around the neck”, Jacinda Ardern.
