Alan Jones breaks silence after entering not guilty plea
Alan Jones has broken his silence after entering a plea of not guilty to 34 indecent assault charges, describing the allegations as “either baseless or they distort the truth”.
Jones read out a prepared statement to a waiting media pack after his brief first court appearance at Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday, when he officially entered a plea of not guilty.
“I am certainly not guilty, and I’ll be presenting my account to a jury as you heard this morning,” Jones said.
“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 that 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.”
Jones was flanked by his lawyers, Chris Murphy and Bryan Wrench, as he read out his statement and did not take questions.
On Wednesday morning, eight new indecent assault charges were laid against Jones relating to a 10th victim, bringing his total number of charges to 34.
Jones wore a dark suit jacket and red trousers with a yellow tie at his court appearance before Judge Michael Allen, the NSW chief magistrate.
His court appearance came a month after he was arrested at his luxury Circular Quay apartment. He is facing 11 counts of aggravated indecent assault, 19 counts of assault with an act of indecency, two counts of sexually touching another person without consent and two counts of common assault.
The charges resulted from police Strike Force Bonnefin, which was formed after an investigation by Sydney Morning Herald and The Age investigative reporter Kate McClymont, which uncovered multiple allegations that Jones used his position of power to prey on young men.
Police allege Jones fondled men’s genitals, grabbed them on the bottom and pulled one man’s scrotum between June 2001 and December 2019.
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