An emotional teenage boy was taken aback when he entered a state MP's house before being plied with alcohol and indecently assaulted, a jury has heard.
Kiama MP Gareth Ward, 44, is on trial in the NSW District Court after pleading not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent and indecent assault charges.
He is accused of inviting a drunk 18-year-old man to his South Coast home in February 2013 and indecently assaulting him in the backyard and in a bed.
The man told the jury he had been very excited when he met Ward at a networking event months earlier, when he was still 17.
The parliamentarian was a "well known public figure" who had been on the news and was connected to the local youth, the complainant explained.
He said the pair were friendly enough by February that Ward invited him over when the teen was feeling "very low" after a tense evening with an on-again, off-again girlfriend.
The 18-year-old had been drinking on his own and was tipsy but "wasn't falling over" when Ward extended the invitation and offered to pay for the taxi fare, he told the court.
The complainant said he had been expecting other people to be at Ward's house so he was "taken aback" when he arrived and it was quiet.
He claims Ward made him a drink or two which they drank in the kitchen before they moved into the backyard.
"He was encouraging me to continue drinking," the complainant told the jury.
He recalled he "thought it would be funny" to prank the politician by lying on the grass and pretending to be passed out while he was inside.
During her opening address, crown prosecutor Monika Knowles alleged that Ward tried to rouse the teen before putting his hands inside the younger man's shorts and touching his buttocks and scrotum.
The jury was told the teen stopped pretending to be unconscious and said he wanted to go to bed, but Ward told him he wouldn't be safe sleeping on his own.
Ms Knowles alleged he got into bed with the teen, sat on his rear and began to massage his lower back despite repeated requests to stop.
The complainant is expected to continue giving evidence on Wednesday before being cross-examined by Ward's legal team.
Ward is also accused of sexually assaulting a drunk political staffer after a mid-week event at NSW Parliament House in 2015.
The man, who was 24 at the time but is now in his 30s, said Ward climbed into bed with him, groped his backside and sexually assaulted him despite him repeatedly saying "no".
Ward was charged over the allegations in 2022 but continues to maintain his innocence.
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National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
