Alleged victim tells Alan Jones’s barrister he was ‘groomed for 10 years’ and to ‘get real’ during combative cross-examination

Courtroom Tensions Mount as Complainant Challenges Defence Framing in Alan Jones Trial

Wanderstayfinder.com – A Sydney local court was thrown into sharp confrontation on Tuesday when the complainant in the Alan Jones sexual-assault trial pushed back directly against the defence narrative, telling the broadcaster’s barrister that he had been “groomed for 10 years” and urging her to “get real.” The exchange, delivered under sustained cross-examination at the Downing Centre, offered a rare unfiltered glimpse into how a junior employee navigated a decade-long power imbalance with one of Australian radio’s most dominant voices.

Charges and Plea

The former 2GB star, now 85, faces 20 counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual touching connected to six separate men. He has entered a not-guilty plea to every count. Judge Glenn Walsh presides over the proceeding, which has drawn sustained public attention given Jones’s decades-long prominence in Australian media.

The Texting Record Under Scrutiny

At the centre of Tuesday’s proceedings was a body of text messages exchanged between Jones and Complainant C over roughly a decade. The defence, led by Gabrielle Bashir SC, argued that the explicit and playful tone of those messages was “inconsistent” with a man who felt assaulted and uncomfortable. Bashir repeatedly put to the witness that his own words contradicted his allegations.

C, who was 18 when he began working at 2GB in the mid-2000s, said the unwanted touching commenced several years later while he served as Jones’s personal driver. After leaving that role, the two continued to correspond by phone. Among the messages put before the court was a 2015 text from C reading:

“I’m a bachelor again. The Donkey is out.”

Pressed on why he would reference his own penis to a man who, he alleges, touched it without consent, C responded:

“I knew he would like to be spoken to like that.”

“Groomed for 10 Years”

When Bashir characterised the exchanges as evidence that C was comfortable with Jones’s behaviour, the complainant pushed back sharply. He told the court the messages reflected a decade of conditioning rather than genuine ease:

“These are messages consistent with someone who had been groomed for 10 years, to think this was an acceptable way to talk with him.”

Bashir also highlighted exchanges in which both men discussed the size of C’s penis, including one in which the younger man sent a winking-face emoji alongside an eggplant — a symbol he conceded represented a penis — and Jones replied:

“Fuck, C need to see the Donkey.”

C told the court he did not enjoy rereading those mid-2010s messages. His frustration with the line of questioning grew visible as the session wore on.

“I sent those messages because I knew I never had to act on it. All my text messages are consistent with what he did to me and how I felt I needed to speak with him. I don’t like hearing a bloke 40 years older writing to a straight guy about wanting to play with his penis – get real.”

Power, Industry, and the Wedding Question

Asked why he maintained contact after leaving Jones’s employ, C pointed to the broadcaster’s outsized influence in Australian radio.

“Alan was still very, very powerful in our industry. Dare I say, he had more power than Ray Hadley.”

Bashir also examined the circumstances surrounding C’s wedding, noting that he had invited Jones and referenced the broadcaster’s generosity in his speech. The court heard Jones presented a $2,000 cheque as a gift. C explained he did not want to “get Jones offside” by omitting him from the guest list.

The Circular Quay Meeting and a Contradictory Text

The defence also probed a meeting between C and Jones at the broadcaster’s Circular Quay apartment, where C had claimed to feel “uncomfortable and anxious.” Bashir pointed to a text C sent to Jones around the same time, which read:

“I miss hanging out with you and seeing your face every day.”

C explained that his employment by a politician made it strategically important to preserve the relationship, adding that the sentiments in the message were not genuine.

“I never would have told Alan that I was uncomfortable and anxious.”

Judicial Intervention

At one point during the cross-examination, Judge Walsh interrupted to note that Bashir had put to the witness, on 16 separate occasions, that the allegations were untrue. The remark underscored the repetitive structure of the defence questioning and drew attention to the cumulative pressure placed on the complainant.

The court had previously heard that in October 2019, C disclosed the history of unwanted kissing and touching to Ray Hadley, Jones’s rival at 2GB, before formally lodging his complaint.

The trial before Judge Walsh continues.