Veteran Conservative Broadcaster Denies 34 Sexual Assault Charges: ‘I Am Emphatic’ in Plea
Veteran Australian radio broadcaster Alan Jones will plead not guilty to a total of 34 charges, including an additional eight counts of indecent assault.
On Dec. 18, Jones, 83, appeared before Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court and read a statement once outside.
“I am certainly not guilty, and I’ll be presenting my account to a jury as you heard this morning,” Jones told reporters.
“I will not be engaging in a running commentary in the media, but I want you to understand this. These allegations are all either baseless, or they distort the truth, and you should know, prior to my arrest, I was given no opportunity by police to answer these allegations.
“I have never indecently assaulted these people.
“The law assumes that I’m not guilty, and I am not guilty. That’s all I can say at the moment, but I am emphatic that I will be defending every charge before a jury in due course.”
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Jones has been charged with historic sexual assault offences against nine people from 2001 and 2019. They include 11 counts of aggravated indecent assault against alleged victims, many of whom had a professional relationship with him.
The youngest alleged victim in the charges was aged 17.
Jones’ lawyer, Bryan Wrench, told the court there were many “untruths published by the media and the police in this matter.”
“The arrests were very much choreographed and scripted. He was always going to meet these allegations.”
The Legal Process
Earlier, criminal lawyer Tony Nikolic, of Ashley, Francina, Leonard and Associates (AFL), explained to The Epoch Times that historic sexual assault charges could be difficult to prosecute.
“This reliance on personal recollections can be problematic due to the fallibility of human memory and false memories can influence that evidence,” Nikolic said.
He also noted the importance of letting the legal process run its course.
“Mr. Jones has the presumption of innocence, and it is important that we respect these presumptions, so we are not faced with a situation like former Cardinal [George] Pell where he was publicly tried and later exonerated,” Nikolic said.
A defamation case against Nine Entertainment, which Jones lodged in the wake of the network making allegations about him, is also likely to stall as the criminal case works its way through the justice system.
