Top radio host pleads not guilty to abusing 10 people

Veteran Australian broadcaster Alan Jones has pleaded not guilty to sexually abusing 10 young men over almost two decades.

The 83-year-old faces 34 charges relating to alleged incidents between 2001 and 2019, including 11 counts of grievous bodily harm.

Mr Jones is one of Australia’s most influential media figures and a former coach of the national rugby union team. He had previously denied abuse allegations that were first published in the Sydney Morning Herald in 2023.

Speaking publicly after his court appearance for the first time since his arrest last month, he said: “I have never indecently assaulted these people.”

“I want you to understand this: these allegations are all either unfounded or they distort the truth, and you should know that the police did not give me an opportunity to respond to any of these allegations before my arrest.”

Mr Jones was taken into custody at his Sydney home on November 18 when investigators from the New South Wales (NSW Police) Child Abuse Squad searched the harbor property and seized electronic devices.

Eight people were originally charged, including a 17-year-old boy. Police have since filed additional charges and say the investigation is ongoing.

All charges, except two cases of negligent bodily harm, are sexual offenses.

Police said some of the alleged victims knew the radio and television host personally and at least one was employed by him.

Others were allegedly attacked when they first met him, NSW Police’s Michael Fitzgerald told reporters last month.

“The law assumes I’m not guilty, and I am not guilty,” Mr Jones told the media throng awaiting him after his first court appearance in Sydney on Wednesday.

“That is all I can say at the moment, but I emphasize that I will defend any allegation before a jury in due course.”

A former teacher, Mr Jones coached the Wallabies between 1984 and 1988 before turning to a radio career.

He also worked at times as a speechwriter and adviser to Liberal Party figures – including former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser – and made several failed bids to represent the party in both state and federal politics.

Mr Jones was a fixture at Sydney radio station 2GB for decades, juggling those duties with television commentating gigs, before retiring from full-time employment in 2020 due to health reasons.

The channel is a polarizing figure that has had one of the largest viewerships in the country for years, but has often stirred controversy.

He made headlines in 2012 for suggesting that then-Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s father had “died of shame” and faced a massive advertising boycott in 2019 after he said someone should “put a sock down the throat of New Zealand’s then-leader.” push”. Jacinda Ardern.