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Alan Jones faces 25 charges of indecent assault and two of sexual touching relating to nine complainants after prosecutors revealed two alleged victims would no longer be part of the case against the veteran broadcaster.
Jones was on Thursday expected to make his first appearance in court this year to be committed to stand trial on 44 charges of indecent assault against 11 victims aged 17 and older.
But the former 2GB and Sky News Australia broadcaster was not required to appear during the brief mention at Downing Centre local court, during which the court heard 17 of the charges against the broadcaster had been dropped and two complainants were no longer part of the case.
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“There has been a very significant development in Mr Jones’s case,” his lawyer Bryan Wrench told the court.
“There are no charges relating to the suggest aggravated indecent assault … no aggravation or indeed that Mr Jones had these complainants under his authority,” Wrench told deputy chief magistrate Sharon Freund.
Wrench said his client entered pleas of not guilty on all of the “downgraded” charges. Jones would face trial in a local court before a magistrate, rather than in the district court before a judge and jury, the court heard on Thursday.
Wrench asked for an eight-week adjournment to talk with the DPP about what he called “unresolved” and “ongoing” disclosure issues, including alleged leaks to the media.
On Monday, new allegations emerged against Jones. Wrench said 23 minutes after he was notified by the DPP about those developments, the media had been notified. He called the disclosure of fresh charges and other material being disseminated to media outlets, including the Australian, “extraordinary”.
After initially calling the amount of adjournment time “extraordinary”, Freund conceded to the request, with the case set down to return to court on 11 November, and the trial set for 2026.
The court heard the DPP estimated the trial would take six weeks, while Wrench suggested the hearings could take up to five months.
“We’re not set up to deal with a three-month trial,” the magistrate said, later adding the case was a “massive drain on already stretched resources”.
In a statement, the DPP confirmed it “made a decision to proceed with 27 charges of indecent assault and sexual touching against Alan Jones” and that the charges would proceed in the local court.
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The 84-year-old Jones was originally charged with committing a range of offences in various places across NSW between 2001 and 2019.
Police set up Strike Force Bonnefin in March 2024 to investigate alleged indecent assaults and sexual touching incidents allegedly involving Jones, after they were raised by the Sydney Morning Herald’s investigative reporter Kate McClymont.
Jones has previously denied all wrongdoing and said he was planning legal action against Nine newspapers for the “demonstrably false” allegations.
He last appeared in court in December when it was suggested he would face a jury trial on the charges.
“I am certainly not guilty, and I’ll be presenting my case to a jury, as you heard this morning,” he said at the time.
“I want you to understand … 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 any of these allegations.”
