Warning: Graphic content
Gareth Ward’s defence team has grilled a political staffer who was allegedly raped by the Kiama MP over apparent discrepancies in his evidence about the night of the alleged attack.
Ward has pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual intercourse without consent against a man who was 24 at the time, as well as three counts of assault with an act of indecency involving an 18-year-old man and an alternate charge of common assault against the younger man.
Kiama MP Gareth Ward arrives at the Downing Centre District Court for day three of his sexual assault trial.Credit: Jessica Hromas
The 43-year-old’s criminal trial began in the Downing Centre District Court in Sydney on Tuesday, three years after the charges were laid.
The older alleged victim earlier told the jury Ward had invited him stay at his Potts Point apartment in Sydney’s eastern suburbs following a boozy event at NSW Parliament House in September 2015, and that the man agreed due to difficulties in getting home.
The man said that at the apartment, following two attempted kisses by Ward – one of which he accepted momentarily – the then Liberal MP followed him to a bed in the spare room. The man told the court Ward tried to cuddle him, before groping him, despite his requests for it to stop. He then digitally penetrated him.
Kiama MP Gareth Ward has pleaded not guilty to five charges, including sexual intercourse without consent. Credit: Jessica Hromas
The court heard that the next morning the pair walked back to parliament, and had walked to the apartment the night before.
As the man’s evidence continued via video link on Thursday, a jury was shown a video of police body-worn camera footage in which he was asked to retrace his steps to and from Potts Point.
In the footage, taken on September 25, 2021, the man walked with police on a route beginning at NSW Parliament House and passing through The Domain, the Botanic Gardens and to Potts Point. The police then asked him to show them the route they took the following morning.
Throughout the footage, the complainant could be heard recalling certain details to police, telling them he “couldn’t remember much from the night walk” because he “had a lot to drink that night”.
He told police his memory of the morning walk was clearer and that he remembered details such as leaving the foyer of Ward’s building, walking down a steep set of stairs and later stopping at the cafe at the Sydney Eye Hospital to have coffee and a bite to eat, before the pair made their way back inside Parliament House.
In cross-examination, Ward’s barrister David Campbell asked the man about a statement he gave police on May 21, 2021 – four months before the body-cam footage shown to the jury was recorded.
Campbell suggested the man told police he could not remember his evening route to Ward’s apartment, and that all he could remember about the morning was walking across The Domain, to which the man responded: “Correct.”
“In particular, you said nothing about stopping at a coffee shop at Sydney Eye Hospital … You said nothing about sitting down and having coffee and something to eat such as banana bread,” Campbell said.
The alleged victim again responded: “Correct.”
The man agreed he had told police, during the September 2021 walk, that he remembered going down certain stairs.
When Campbell put to him that he “didn’t have a memory about walking down any stairs on May 1, 2021”, he responded: “No, because I hadn’t retraced my steps.”
“Because in May 2021 [in the initial statement], you had no memory of any of those things,” Campbell said.
In the video, the man said he remembered taking two different routes when walking to and from Ward’s home, but during cross-examination, admitted he may have been confused about the streets he took when retracing them with police.
Campbell also grilled the man on his recollection of other details on the night of the alleged rape, noting he told the jury he could “not be 100 per cent certain” the event that preceded the incident was held in September.
He was asked about whether a certain politician spoke at the event, and he responded: “I believe so, but memories can meld together.”
Campbell pressed that he remembered certain specific details such as certain people who were there.
“Because of the details, you would be able to recall the date. Maybe not to the very day, but pretty much to the day, wouldn’t you?” Campbell asked.
“I don’t agree with that statement,” the man responded.
Earlier in the man’s evidence, he described feeling “dirty and confused” in the aftermath of the alleged rape, and that he was hesitant to later come forward and face risking “humiliation” due to Ward’s position as the minister responsible for child protection.
Separately to the allegations against the then-24-year-old, Ward is accused of inviting a then-18-year-old man to his Nowra home in February 2013 following a party the younger man had been at.
In the Crown’s earlier opening remarks, it was alleged Ward slid his hands into the man’s shorts and rubbed his buttocks and to the side of his scrotum while the man was lying on Ward’s grass, “pretending to be passed out, playing a joke”.
The Crown alleged Ward took the young man to his own bedroom to go to sleep and, as the young alleged victim lay on his stomach, Ward put his groin on top of his buttocks and gave him a lower back massage, only stopping after several requests to do so.
The defence team’s cross-examination continues in the trial before Judge Kara Shead that is expected to last for three to four weeks.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.