Executive felt ‘disgusting and powerless’ about Alan Jones’ alleged sexual touch

An executive who has accused Alan Jones of touching his bottom at a function has told a court he described feelings of disgust and powerlessness while confiding in his boss.

Jones, 85, is standing trial on 19 counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual touching without consent, relating to five male complainants over 17 years from 2003 to 2020.

On Tuesday, Downing Centre Local Court heard from the fourth complainant, dubbed “H”.

“H” told the court that he was mingling with the former broadcaster and two other people at an event in Sydney several years ago when Jones placed his hand on the top of his back and “went slowly down my back and then rested it on my bottom”.

The pair were strangers at the time and the complainant worked as an executive. The allegation of sexual touching without consent constitutes one of the 21 charges against Jones.

The man said the group was standing in the corner of the room. His and Jones’ backs were to the wall – with no-one else behind them – while the two people they were chatting with faced the wall.

He told prosecutor Georgina Wright, SC, that he does not recall how long Jones had his hand on his bottom. From his memory, “it wasn’t a firm pressure”. He was not sure if the other people standing with them saw what happened and did not see them react.

“H” said he did not consent to the touch and did not think he reacted to it.

“I’m not sure if my face changed – I didn’t say anything to Mr Jones,” he said.

“I didn’t want to cause a scene … I thought that could potentially ruin the night. To be honest, I felt a little bit powerless in that situation.”

“H” agreed that, following the event, Jones sent him a “thank you email” and may have copied other people in.

He accepted that he responded to the email to acknowledge Jones’ thanks and the job he did at the event.

The man told the court he confided in his boss about the allegation as they left the event, and in a colleague in the following days.

“H” said he told his boss he “felt disgusting and powerless, and it was the first time I’d understood what women had been going through all these years”.

The man told the court he contacted the Sydney Morning Herald’s chief investigative reporter Kate McClymont after reading a December 2023 article in which she detailed allegations against Jones. He said he told her over the phone what had happened to him, but did not authorise her to use the information.

“H” told the court that several months later, he read another one of McClymont’s stories and “noticed ... the allegations of what [he] said” were included. He said he was not named in the article.

“H” said he authorised McClymont to pass his details onto police, to whom he provided a statement in 2024.

The trial continues.

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