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Rory Amon was found not guilty of four counts of child rape, two counts of attempted child rape and two counts of indecent assault of a child. (AAP)<\/p>\nA former Liberal MP may face a second child abuse trial after a jury cleared him of some but not all charges related to a 13-year-old boy.<\/p>\n
Rory Amon was found not guilty of four counts of child rape, two counts of attempted child rape and two counts of indecent assault of a child today after three days of deliberations.<\/p>\n
However, jurors sitting in the NSW Supreme Court trial could not reach a verdict for further charges of rape and indecent assault of a child.<\/p>\n
Rory Amon was found not guilty of four counts of child rape, two counts of attempted child rape and two counts of indecent assault of a child. (AAP)<\/p>\n
\ufeffThe deadlocked jury was discharged.<\/p>\n
Amon kept his eyes downcast and maintained a blank expression as the jurors found him not guilty of eight charges.<\/p>\n
He was later seen stepping from the dock with a large grin, hugging his barrister.<\/p>\n
The 36-year-old had pleaded not guilty to all charges and denied any criminal conduct.<\/p>\n
Amon admitted meeting the teen once for sex in 2017 but denied claims of a second meeting soon after.<\/p>\n
He testified he held an honest and reasonable belief that the teen was over the age of 16.<\/p>\n
The pair met online on an adults-only website.<\/p>\n
The trial was told that the boy inflated his age when signing up to the gay hook-up app and again while talking with Amon.<\/p>\n
Amon, then 27 and aspiring for a life in politics, and the boy moved their discussion to Snapchat, where explicit messages and images were sent, before meeting in person.<\/p>\n
The jury heard Amon turned up to the teen’s apartment block, wearing a tracksuit and ugg boots, before the pair moved to a small, dirty bathroom under the building.<\/p>\n
Amon had seen the teen in explicit photos, under street lights and then in the lit bathroom before the light was turned off, the Crown argued.<\/p>\n
That would have made it obvious to Amon that the youth was under 16, the jury was told.<\/p>\n
“He told me he was 17 and nothing I saw changed that belief,” Amon testified.<\/p>\n
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Jurors could not reach a verdict for further charges of rape and indecent assault of a child. (Steven Siewert\/SMH)<\/p>\n
Arrested in August 2024, Amon pleaded not guilty to five counts of having sexual intercourse with a child, two counts of attempted sexual intercourse with a child and indecent assault charges.<\/p>\n
Eight of the charges related to the boy’s claims of a second meeting with Amon in the car park bathroom in July 2017.<\/p>\n
Jurors were told the boy told friends, his mother, a school counsellor and his psychologist about the incident soon afterwards.<\/p>\n
He made a formal complaint to police five years later.<\/p>\n
The two briefly reconnected on Grindr in 2022 when Amon sent him more images, including one wearing his volunteer firefighters uniform.<\/p>\n
At the time he first contacted the youth in 2017, Amon was working full-time for federal Mackellar MP Jason Falinski.<\/p>\n
He would go on to serve two terms on Northern Beaches Council before being elected as the Liberal MP for the state seat of Pittwater in 2023.<\/p>\n
The charges killed Amon’s fledgling career in state politics, forcing his expulsion from the Liberal Party and his resignation after his election in March 2023.<\/p>\n
His exit also had implications for the state Liberals, which lost the formerly safe seat to a teal independent at the subsequent by-election.<\/p>\n