The complainant in the sexual assault trial of former Liberal MP Rory Amon has burst into tears while telling a court of the alleged incidents that took place when he was 13.
Mr Amon, who resigned as the Member for Pittwater in August 2024, pleaded not guilty to 10 charges, including indecent assault of a person under 16 and having sexual intercourse with a child aged 10 to 14.
He is accused of allegedly meeting the boy, first contacted on a “gay dating app”, on two occasions in the bathroom of a Sydney apartment complex car park eight years ago.
The details of the alleged assaults were outlined to the jurors today as the Supreme Court heard opening addresses from the Crown and the defence.
The court was told the pair allegedly exchanged explicit images and videos before meeting face-to-face between June 1 and July 25, 2017.
Giving evidence, the complainant said he recalled creating a profile on a paid subscription website in the first half of that year and receiving a 10-day free trial for uploading a profile picture.
Now 22, he cannot be identified for legal reasons.
The accusations against Mr Amon include indecent assault of a person under 16 and having sexual intercourse with a child aged between 10 and 14. (AAP: Dan Himbrechts)
He said he did not include a photo of his face at the time to “maintain my anonymity” and “lied about” his age “because there’s obviously a policy about not having underage users”.
The court heard the platform required users to be 18 or older.
He said he joined because he “really wanted connection. I was obviously very insecure about myself”.
The complainant told the court he did not recall how he first came into contact with the accused, but said he assumed “he would’ve reached out to me”.
He said he did not speak with Mr Amon for very long on the site “because he wanted to send me photos of himself but didn’t feel comfortable sending them on there”.
“So he wanted to move the conversation to Snapchat … he justified moving our conversation to Snapchat because … when you send photos or videos they disappear once you send them.”Alleged victim breaks into tears
The complainant told the court it “could have been up to a week” before he met Mr Amon, as conversations continued and he was “under the belief it was the beginning of a relationship”.
He said he believed it was Mr Amon who “initiated” taking the conversation offline.
The court heard Mr Amon scouted for a “quiet” location before settling for the underground car park bathroom and closed the door behind him.
The trial continues at the Supreme Court. (ABC News: Jak Rowland)
The complainant broke into tears as he was shown photographs of the area.
He told the court Mr Amon “asked me if I had ever done anything like this before”, and he replied, “No”, to which Mr Amon said: “Good”.
After the alleged assault, the complainant said the accused “kissed me” and then “asked that I wait a minute and he said just to make sure … if anyone saw”.
He gave evidence that Mr Amon messaged later that night about the alleged interaction and continued making conversation in the days afterwards about topics including “what I was doing at school that day … until the defendant suggested that we meet again”.
The second alleged interaction took place in the same bathroom after a message from Mr Amon saying “he would bring a towel so we could lie down”, the court heard.
During the alleged second interaction, the complainant said he felt “really grossed out” and “repulsed” at points, and that he “wanted it to stop”.
He told the court “in the days after [Mr Amon] was very insistent we meet up again so we could have penetrative anal sex and I didn’t know how to say no”.
‘Consent of a child is not a defence’
In her opening address, Crown prosecutor Meaghan Fleeton told the jury the complainant told Mr Amon he was 15.
After the two alleged incidents, the court heard the then-13-year-old confided to a teacher who escalated the matter to police under mandatory reporting.
Ms Fleeton said the complainant reported the matter to police in full when he was 18 years old.
Mr Amon quit as Member for Pittwater in 2024. (Supplied)
She said the Crown’s case would rest on whether it could be proven beyond reasonable doubt there was deliberate touching and the alleged offences took place when the complainant was underage.
“Due to the complainant’s age, he could not consent to this act or any of the sexual acts [in the case],” she said.
“Consent of a child is not a defence.”
Defence lawyer, Matthew Johnston SC, said there was “no significant dispute” there was an online connection between the two, who then agreed to meet “shortly after” and “engaged in sexual activity”.
He said the defence’s case hinged on two “significant areas of dispute” — including Mr Amon’s knowledge of the complainant’s age.
“The indictment alleges [the complainant] was 13 — that was a fact not known to the accused.”
He told the jury Mr Amon would have “had an assumption any person using those websites was 18 years or older”.
The trial continues.