Former Australian radio host and national rugby coach Alan Jones on trial for sex charges

SYDNEY — The trial of Alan Jones, a retired Sydney radio broadcaster and former Australian national rugby coach accused of sexual offenses against six men and boys over two decades, began on Monday.

The 85-year-old has pleaded not guilty to 20 counts of indecent assault and two of sexual touching without consent. The offenses were allegedly committed between 2003 and 2020, when he retired from radio, at various locations in Sydney and at his farm on the Southern Highlands in New South Wales state.

Jones and his lawyers did not answer reporters’ questions as they arrived at the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney on Monday morning. The trial is expected to hear more than 70 witnesses and continue for months.

Jones opted to be tried by Judge Glenn Walsh without a jury. None of the six complainants can be identified for legal reasons.

The first complainant testified that he had been a 14-year-old budding champion athlete when he met Jones, who later gave the athlete a phone, a car and hundreds of dollars a week to help focus on training.

The athlete said he was grateful for Jones' generosity, but their relationship was tainted by unwanted kisses and groping incidents.

The athlete described feeling trapped as he drove a car while Jones allegedly groped the athlete's genitals.

“I had one of the most powerful men in the country in the car. I had to focus on the road,” the athlete testified.

Jones’ lawyer Gabrielle Bashir said the athlete, and others, had concocted allegations.

“Rivalry, treachery, double dealing, money, hatred, desperation, opportunism and more are at the heart of this case,” Bashir said in her opening address.

She said prosecution allegations contained contamination, reconstruction and were inflamed by Jones’ media rivals.

“This court will finally see the evidence of what all the complainants did not tell police,” Bashir said.

Another complainant, who was 21 years old and worked on Jones’ radio program, would testify that Jones called him “darling” and groped the man while he was driving, prosecutor Georgina Wright told the court.

Bashir accused that complainant of rewriting his history with the broadcaster.

Jones hosted a popular Sydney breakfast radio show for close to two decades. He was regarded as one of the most powerful people in Australian media.

He was also a successful coach of the Australian national rugby team, the Wallabies, for four years from early 1984. The team won 86 of their 102 matches under his leadership.

Jones was also influential in conservative politics and was a speechwriter for Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. Fraser was in power from 1975 until 1983. He died in 2015.

Police set up a strike force to investigate Jones after The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper reported in 2023 that Jones used his position of power, first as a schoolteacher and later as a popular broadcaster, to prey on a number of young men. Jones was charged in 2024.