The mother of a then-teenager, who alleges Alan Jones kissed him and grabbed his buttock, has told a court the 17-year-old was withdrawn after he returned from the broadcaster’s Southern Highlands farm and knew straight away “something was up”.
Mr Jones, 85, is standing trial in Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court as he battles allegations that he groped and kissed five male complainants over nearly two decades.
A man, who can only be known as “Complainant A”, alleges Mr Jones kissed him, put his tongue in his mouth and grabbed his right buttock during an incident at the former shock jock’s Fitzroy Falls home.
A, who was the last of five complainants to give evidence during the long-running trial, has told the court he was 17 at the time of the alleged incident, which he said left him feeling “violated”, and he washed his mouth with a loofah afterwards.
Mr Jones has consistently denied the allegations made by “A” and the other four complainants, and has pleaded not guilty to 19 counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual touching.
The court was previously told “A” met Mr Jones after writing to him about his family’s financial hardship.
The court was told that over several years, Mr Jones provided in excess of $100,000 to support the family, assisted them in finishing and renovating their home and with legal fees.
Mr Jones also aided the family by sourcing a builder and a lawyer and used his contacts with a bank to renegotiate the mortgage on their home, the court was previously told.
The mother told the court on Monday that she contributed to the emails and the information that her son provided to Mr Jones.
She told the court at the time she was “incredibly grateful that someone of his stature” took an interest in her family and she was “desperate”.
“Just the fact this person was interested was a win,” the mother told the court.
She told the court on Tuesday she was “really comfortable” that A accepted Mr Jones’ invitation to stay overnight at his Fitzroy Falls property.
“I was just so pleased to have an older mentor in (A’s) life that was interested in lots of different things - sport, art theatre - who saw my son as intelligent as he is,” the mother said.
The court was previously told A stayed at the property over two nights and the man has alleged Mr Jones leaned in and kissed him in the hallway of the property.
The woman told the court on Monday that when A returned from the trip, she knew “straight away something was up”.
“His mood was different,” she said.
She said A commented about having broken a plate but said he wasn’t sleeping and stayed up during the night.
“He was withdrawn,” she said.
She told the court that 10 days after A returned from Fitzroy Falls, she was sitting outside when he handed her a note and said to her “I don’t want to talk about it”.
The court was previously told that in the note, A said something happened at Fitzroy Falls, but did not elaborate, and he did not want to talk about it.
She said she had asked her son whether he wanted to report the matter to the police.
“He said ‘I wasn’t raped and it’s probably not a big thing in the scheme of it and it would be my word against his and he’s a powerful man’,” the woman told the court.
The court was told that A finally spoke to police in 2024, and the mother later found the note and provided it to detectives.
The trial before Judge Glenn Walsh continues.