Source : Perth Now news
WARNING: Distressing content
A former Sydney MP allegedly whispered and turned the light off before sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy in a carpark bathroom, a jury has been told.
Roderick “Rory” Amon is accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy in a bathroom in the underground carpark of the teen’s apartment complex where he lived with his parents in 2017.
The former Northern Beaches councillor, who was aged 27 at the time, does not dispute that he and the boy met on a gay dating site and engaged in sexual activity in 2017, but he argues that he believed the boy was at least 16.
The boy had lied about his age to meet the dating site’s age requirements but claimed he later told Mr Amon that he was 15.
Mr Amon has pleaded not guilty to 10 historical child sexual offences.
The complainant, now 22, told his parents that he was going for a run when he met Mr Amon outside his apartment complex late one night in 2017, the jury was told.
Mr Amon allegedly parked at the end of the street despite available spots closer to the boy’s apartment, the complainant claimed.
“When he introduced himself … he was whispering, so I whispered too,” the man told the jury on Friday.
The man rejected submissions by Mr Amon’s lawyer Matthew Johnston SC on Monday that he had led Mr Amon to the carpark bathroom after the former MP suggested they go somewhere more discreet.
Once in the bathroom, Mr Amon allegedly turned off the lights before asking the boy if he had “ever done anything like this before”, with the teen unsure if he meant having a relationship or sex and replying no “because that answered both questions”.
“He turned (the light) off because he said it was too bright … he just used the flashlight on his phone,” the man told the jury.
Mr Amon then directed the boy to perform oral sex.
The complainant previously said he had been “excited” to meet with Mr Amon but felt “gross” by the end of their alleged encounters, telling the jury on Monday that he did not “fully comprehend” that by creating a profile on a gay dating site he would be put into contact with gay men interested in having sex.
“I understood I would meet a partner, something romantic would come from it … my judgment was obviously faulty,” the man said.
Teen felt ‘shame’ after ex-MP’s alleged assault
He felt “shame” when reporting the matter to police years later in 2022, he said, when asked by Mr Johnston about whether he may have first told police that he had met the ex-MP on an “unknown website” instead of the gay dating site Squirt.org.
“It’s possible. I think I was still working through the shame of feeling blameworthy because this whole experience was facilitated by me first being on a website which I shouldn’t have been on,” the man told the court.
He was also asked if he was mistaken when giving evidence that he and Mr Amon had talked the day after their first encounter.
“No … we chatted every day during that period. It felt exciting. I remember opening his messages during school hours,” the man said, rejecting submissions that Mr Amon did not talk to him every day and did not talk to him during school hours.
Questions over boy’s age
A crucial element of the case is whether Mr Amon truly believed the boy was at least 16, with the complainant agreeing he at no point told the former MP his true age.
Mr Johnston suggested the complainant was “less than definite” about whether he had told Mr Amon he was 15, reading out part of his statement to police where he said “I didn’t tell Rory my real age, I think I said I was 15”.
“Well, it wasn’t my intention to convey that I was less than definite about that,” the complainant replied.
The man also rejected submissions that Mr Amon had never told him he was 17 but acknowledging he thought the former MP was in his early or mid 20s.
Kids helpline allegedly told 13yo ‘it wasn’t that deep’
The man also recalled being in tears after he called a kids helpline soon after the alleged assaults.
“I didn’t say much, I just said that I had sex with someone and it made me feel bad and the person on the other end of the line seemed a bit confused, and even when I clarified that the person was much older than I am … I don’t remember the exact phrasing … he just said it wasn’t that deep, essentially, but he did specifically say ‘people hook up all the time’,” the man said on Friday.
“I felt really vulnerable … I cried.”
Mr Amon has maintained his innocence.
The NSW Supreme Court trial continues.
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