Complainant A, now in his 20s, alleges Mr Jones invited him to his Fitzroy Falls property in the NSW Southern Highlands almost a decade ago, and assaulted him after two other guests left by kissing him and touching his bottom. Mr Jones has pleaded not guilty to all 21 charges of indecent assault and sexual touching made by five complainants.
During five days of cross-examination, defence barrister Gabrielle Bashir SC questioned the complainant's credibility. The court heard that Complainant A initially told police and hospital staff he had been injured in an altercation the previous day, but later admitted the assault by a different person occurred about two weeks earlier, and that he created new injuries himself before presenting to hospital.
"Yeah, no assault had occurred on [that date]," Complainant A said when asked about his initial account. Asked if those initial statements were lies, he agreed: "That is correct." Ms Bashir accused him of having a "selective view of the truth", which he denied. The complainant said he manipulated the injuries because he "wanted to be believed".
Under questioning, Complainant A acknowledged Mr Jones had been "generous" to him over the years, but rejected the suggestion he had been "nothing but kind and generous". The defence has accused the complainant of trying to "obtain as much financial assistance as possible" from the broadcaster, which he denied.
The court heard Complainant A made his first two police statements about the alleged assault the year after it happened, but the second statement said he did not want to proceed. A third statement was made in 2024, six months before Mr Jones was arrested.
The trial was told that about 11 months after the alleged assault, the complainant was called into his school principal's office and met police officers. He said he had written his mother a note explaining "something sexual" had happened, but did not share details with the principal. "I hate talking about this, Ms Bashir, so I wasn't about to talk about this in front of the principal," he said. "I still feel a lot of shame."
Ms Bashir put to the witness that he was fabricating the kiss and that the pair simply hugged. "Alan Jones did not kiss you on the mouth, did he?" she asked. "That's not a true statement, Ms Bashir," the complainant replied. "You and Mr Jones hugged goodnight and nothing more … that's correct, isn't it?" "No, Ms Bashir, that is not correct."
The trial returns on November 2.