A former athlete turned to Alan Jones for a reference after he had allegedly been indecently assaulted by the veteran broadcaster on multiple occasions, starting when he was a teenager.
The 85-year-old is facing the first week of a months-long Local Court hearing after he pleaded not guilty to 22 counts of indecent assault and sexual touching without consent.
Six men, who cannot be identified, allege Jones indecently assaulted or sexually touched them between 2003 and 2020 at locations across Sydney and the NSW Southern Highlands.
The first of the men to give evidence in Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court said he met Jones when he was aged 14 and a rising athletic star.
The former Wallabies coach gave him gifts that ranged from a mobile phone to a car and a weekly stipend of up to $600 "as a gift" so he could focus on sport, the complainant said.
While he was grateful for the support, the athlete said he was also fearful because Jones subjected him to multiple non-consensual kisses and groping incidents over two years.
The support continued after the last alleged assault, with Jones continuing to shell out weekly payments that totalled more than $110,000 after nine years, the court was told.
Under cross-examination by Jones' barrister Gabrielle Bashir, the athlete revealed he had also leant on the former talkback titan for a character reference.
He said he had been charged with a traffic offence and used the character reference provided by Jones - along with others - at his sentencing proceedings.
The athlete is set to be grilled on Wednesday by Ms Bashir, who opened her questioning by taking him to a number of news articles about Jones' arrest.
He rejected her suggestions that he wasn't being honest when he said he hadn't read newspaper reports about the former radio host from 2023, months before his arrest.
It came after he had detailed nine indecent assaults at Jones' hands, including a painful groping incident while he was driving and another in a bedroom in which he was scared and nervous.
The athlete told the court he felt he had to report the allegations to police in 2024 because it was "the right thing to do".
"What the defendant was doing was wrong and I knew it was wrong," he said.
"I just want justice for what happened and that's why I'm here."
During her opening statement, Ms Bashir suggested he may have concocted the allegations and said she would test his credibility.
Jones has consistently denied all of the allegations against him and has been watching the complainant's evidence closely.
The hearing continues before Judge Glenn Walsh on Wednesday.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
