Frank Zumbo: Female employee tells court boss exposed penis

A female employee of former MP Craig Kelly’s chief of staff said she was “shocked” after he allegedly exposed himself to her late one night after work.

A former employee has told a court the chief of staff of ousted MP Craig Kelly exposed his penis to her late one night after they went out to dinner after work.

The woman claimed it was one of many unwanted sexual advances Francesco ‘Frank’ Zumbo made towards her in addition to remarks that felt her feeling uncomfortable while she worked with him.

Zumbo, 55, was charged with multiple sexual touching and indecent assaults charges in June 2021 after a lengthy investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against four women aged 27, 26, 23 and 16 between 2014 and 2020.

Zumbo had already pleaded not guilty to 18 charges – nine counts of common assault, two counts of aggravated sexual touching, and seven counts of aggravated indecent assault.

He also pleaded not guilty to two new charges pertaining to the fifth complainant – one charge of indecent assault and a back-up charge of common assault. The charges were laid last week.

Zumbo denies all the allegations, claiming no sexual conduct occurred.

Frank Zumbo during the first day of his Downing Court hearing in Sydney. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

In her opening address, Zumbo’s barrister Carolyn Davenport said her client “tried to have a collegial atmosphere”, be friendly and promote the young women’s future careers while he supervised and managed them in Craig Kelly’s electorate office in Sutherland.

During the second day of Zumbo’s hearing at Downing Centre Local Court, a former employee said shortly before she quit, she went out to dinner with Zumbo, as was a regular occurrence, and on the way home they stopped at a car park.

She told the court she was seated next to Zumbo on a bench seat and he had his arm around her.

The woman said Zumbo pulled her in for a hug, gave her a kiss on the check and when she looked down “his pants were unzipped and his penis was out a bit”.

“I said to Frank, ‘no I just want to go home’,” the woman told the court, continuing on to say Zumbo appeared “frustrated” by her comment.

The woman said his belt was not undone, just the zipper on his trousers, and she stood up and then he drove her home where she cried.

“Initially my reaction was shock,” she said.

Frank Zumbo is defending sexual touching allegations. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

The woman detailed other events that happened outside their Sutherland Shire workplace including an incident when Zumbo and the woman were at her friend’s house.

She said she was standing on the balcony having a cigarette when Zumbo stood next to her, pulled her in for a hug, kissed her on the cheek but his mouth moved closer to hers and his lips touched the corner of her mouth.

The woman said she pushed Zumbo off her before she finished her cigarette and went back inside.

“I felt violated … yet again there was an invasion of my personal space. I had made it clear I didn’t want that to happen. It was unreciprocated,” she said.

“I was angry and embarrassed that had happened in my friend’s house.”

The woman went on to describe an incident in Zumbo’s car when she and a colleague were being driven to a political event for Julie Bishop.

She told the court she was in the front seat of the car, while Zumbo was driving, and he put his hand on her knee then moved it up her leg and touched her inner thigh.

“I closed my legs and he moved his hand back down to my knee and patted it,” the woman said.

The woman said she tried to keep calm to not alert her colleague in the car.

“I was surprised … I wasn’t used to being touched with other people present,” she said.

The woman described how Zumbo’s touching escalated during the course of her employment.

She said after working for a few months, Zumbo would open the back door to the office, greet her then usher her into Craig Kelly’s office where he would give her a hug then as more time passed he would give her a kiss then would ask for one back.

“More common than not, he would go in for a hug, he would touch my breasts, slip his hands around my back and give a bear hug and rub me against him,” she said.

“I would often kick my legs out so just my top half was rubbed.”

The woman said Zumbo would say friends kiss on the check and it was “part of Italian culture”.

Frank Zumbo pictured as he leaves the Surry Hills police centre after he was granted bail. Picture: Damian Shaw

She described her relationship with him at the start as “nurturing and supportive”, having felt lucky to have been given an opportunity as a young woman to enter the world of politics.

She said her relationship with Zumbo turned more “volatile” and he would fight with her about not returning his calls or if she supported another colleague.

The woman said Zumbo did not like it when the female colleagues, who called themselves the “sisterhood”, talked without him, and would often call them on their way home if they travelled together to prevent them from speaking.

The women in the office also had a group chat called the “sisterhood trauma support”.

The woman told the court she once told Zumbo his advances were “sexual assault” because they were unwanted and made her feel uncomfortable, adding his actions were “crossing a line”.

She described another incident when Zumbo was discussing a casual relationship she was in and he said “why haven’t you looked to me, I am not the jealous type, I can share”.

Frank Zumbo leaving Sutherland Local Court on a previous occasion. Picture: Dylan Robinson

On another occasion Zumbo was comforting her when she was upset and he offered her “physical support” which she took to mean sexual interaction but said she didn’t need that from him.

She also noted he would refer to her as “sexy” or a “hot piece of arse”, or words to that effect at least once a week.

“I would try and brush it off. I figured if I got angry it would have led to a fight so I thought laughing it off was better,” the woman told the court.

The hearing continues and the woman will be cross-examined on Wednesday afternoon.