The trial of former radio broadcaster Alan Jones started on Monday in a Sydney court. He faces 22 charges of indecent assault and sexual touching, which are criminal charges involving unwanted sexual contact. Judge Glenn Walsh is hearing the case alone, with no jury, and the trial is expected to last four months with 76 witnesses (The Guardian).

The charges cover alleged offences against six people between 2003 and 2020. The allegations include kissing complainants and touching them on the penis and buttocks (news.com.au; The Guardian).

The charges fall under two different versions of the law. In 2018, New South Wales changed the name of the offence from "indecent assault" to "sexual touching," which can carry up to five years in prison. Some of Jones's alleged offences happened before that change and some after, so the charges use both old and new legal language (The Guardian).

The number of charges has gone down over time. Jones was first charged by police on November 18, 2024, and was granted bail. A further charge was added on March 7, 2025. Then charges were dropped on three separate occasions: one on June 2, 2026, four more on July 14, 2026, and more ahead of trial. That left the current 22 charges to proceed (ABC News; ABC News; ABC News; ABC News; ABC News).

NSW Police set up a special team called Taskforce Bonnefin after alleged victims came forward following investigative reporting by the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age (The Guardian).

On Friday, Judge Walsh rejected a defence attempt to stop media reporting complainants' evidence. Jones's barrister, Claire O'Neill, argued that evidence given "in camera" (meaning in a closed courtroom) should not be published. Judge Walsh disagreed, saying he was not satisfied that "in camera" meant a ban on reporting. The judge noted that Complainant J was not bothered by media reporting his evidence, while the defendant was. Complainant J is not named publicly, as alleged victims of sexual offences have a legal right to privacy (The Guardian).

Complainant J, the youngest alleged victim at 17 years old at the time, is giving evidence in the closed courtroom on Monday after opening statements from both sides. His case accounts for nine of the 22 charges against Jones (The Guardian).

The court heard that Complainant J told police he met Jones as a young man and was given a mobile phone by the then-2GB breakfast host, who invited him to visit his Macquarie Street apartment. Jones is alleged to have put his arms around Complainant J at the apartment, given him a squeeze and a peck on the mouth while saying, "I love you mate." Jones is further alleged to have touched Complainant J's penis while driving him to Fitzroy Falls in the NSW Southern Highlands (The Guardian).

The prosecution's case is built on an alleged pattern of Jones targeting significantly younger men in his professional and social circle. Two of the six complainants told police they were assaulted the first time they met Jones: one at a fashion show and one at a fundraising meeting. Prosecutors said in pre-trial hearings last month that it is "improbable that two similar accounts" of Jones allegedly touching a complainant's penis while driving "would be untrue." In each case, the complainant was driving the car, and there was no mutual contact before the alleged touching (The Guardian).

Jones has denied all wrongdoing. In December 2024, he said: "I have never indecently assaulted these people. The law assumes that I am not guilty, and I am not guilty." The defence has argued that the allegations are either baseless or distort the truth (The Guardian).

The broader context here is worth understanding. Having a judge decide the case alone instead of a jury is a deliberate choice for a case this well-known. It avoids the risk that jury members might be influenced by news coverage before the trial. But it also means one person, the judge, carries the full responsibility of deciding who to believe. The prosecution is also using a strategy where they present multiple complainants' stories together to show a pattern. This approach is common in sexual offence trials but can be challenged by the defence. Jones's lawyers will need to address not just each person's account individually, but the combined weight of the similarities between them, especially the two alleged incidents that happened while driving.

The trial is expected to finish by the end of the year, though 76 witnesses and six complainants could make that timeline difficult to meet.