Alan Jones is now facing 25 charges of indecent assault and two of sexual touching involving nine complainants, after prosecutors confirmed two alleged victims had withdrawn from the case against the veteran broadcaster.
The former radio host had been due in court on Thursday for a committal hearing over 44 charges of indecent assault linked to 11 complainants aged 17 and older.
However, Jones was not required to appear at the brief mention in Downing Centre Local Court, where it was revealed that 17 charges had been dropped and two complainants were no longer proceeding.
“There has been a very significant development in Mr Jones’s case,” his lawyer Bryan Wrench told the court, per Guardian Australia.
“There are no charges relating to the suggestion of aggravated indecent assault … no aggravation or indeed that Mr Jones had these complainants under his authority,” Wrench told deputy chief magistrate Sharon Freund.
Wrench told the court his client had pleaded not guilty to all of the “downgraded” charges. The case will now be heard in the local court before a magistrate, rather than in the district court before a judge and jury.
Wrench requested an eight-week adjournment to discuss what he described as “unresolved” and “ongoing” disclosure issues with the DPP, including claims of leaks to the media.
On Monday, fresh allegations surfaced against Jones. Wrench told the court that just 23 minutes after he was notified by the DPP, the media had also been informed. He described the release of the new charges and related material to outlets including The Australian as “extraordinary”.
After first describing the adjournment request as “extraordinary,” Freund ultimately agreed, and the case was scheduled to return to court on 11 November, with the trial set for 2026.
The court was told the DPP expected the trial to run for six weeks, while Wrench argued it could stretch to as long as five months.
“We’re not set up to deal with a three-month trial,” the magistrate said, later adding the case was a “massive drain on already stretched resources”.
DPP confirmed in a statement that it “made a decision to proceed with 27 charges of indecent assault and sexual touching against Alan Jones” and that the charges would proceed in the local court.
Alan Jones was arrested in November after an eight-month investigation into a series of alleged assaults and sexual touching incidents between 2001 and 2019.
At his first court appearance in December, he declared the allegations are “all either baseless or they distort the truth”.
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