Warning: graphic content
It was obvious a 13-year-old boy was a child when Rory Amon allegedly sexually abused him in a communal carpark toilet, a court has heard, while the former Liberal NSW MP insisted he thought the complainant was 17.
During his Supreme Court trial on Monday, the 36-year-old faced relentless questioning on how he could have thought a 13-year-old boy was four years older when they met outside the teenager’s parents’ northern beaches apartment complex a decade ago.
The Crown argues the alleged assaults took place on two occasions in the apartment carpark’s shared toilet, while Amon said he believed the teenager was of legal age during the first incident and that there had been no second meeting.
Amon is defending 10 child sexual abuse charges over the two incidents in June and July 2017, including five counts of sexual intercourse with a child between the ages of 10 and 14.
The complainant testified that he believed he told Amon he was 15 when they connected on an adult hook-up site, and that Amon had told the boy he was 17. The boy was 13 at the time.
The former northern beaches councillor was not required to take the stand to share his version of events, but he chose to do so.
He told his barrister, Matthew Johnston SC, that he used a secret phone to access the dating app Grindr and would regularly delete and re-create profiles because of “feelings of guilt or shame” due to struggling with his sexuality.
“The primary purpose of that was I was not out sexually until, I guess now,” he said.
Amon said his profiles accurately listed his age as 27.
At the time he connected with the teenager’s profile in mid-2017, Amon’s political career was thriving. He worked for the then-federal MP for Mackellar, Jason Falinski, and was campaigning for upcoming council election pre-selections.
He went on to serve two terms on the Northern Beaches Council and in 2023, he was elected as Liberal MP for Pittwater.
Amon said he recalled the boy telling him he was 17. While he did not “specifically recall” if he had disclosed his own age, he said he would have been honest if asked. The complainant earlier said his own profile picture showed an anonymous photo of his upper body.
The chat moved to the message-deleting app Snapchat, which Amon said was a usual progression for these types of encounters.
Sexual photos were exchanged, as well as “obscured face photos”. Amon said no photos or messages implied the boy was younger than he said he was, as he “would have ceased communication” if he knew he was under the legal age of consent of 16.
One night in June or July, the pair arranged to meet outside the teenager’s northern beaches home.
Amon admitted he had seen the boy’s face, saying: “I thought he was the age he told me he was, which was 17.”
He said the pair “exchanged pleasantries” before the boy guided him down a dimly lit corridor and to a toilet in a communal garage.
“I recall saying something to the effect of ‘where are we going’ type thing,” Amon said. The boy denied this, saying Amon had led the way.
The ex-MP allegedly assaulted the boy multiple times inside the toilet by putting his hands on the teen’s genitals and directing him to perform oral sex.
Amon said he knew that “sexual activity took place”, but that he did not “recall the specifics”.
During cross-examination, Crown prosecutor Meaghan Fleeton grilled Amon on his supposed belief of the complainant’s age.
Fleeton suggested “it was obvious he was a child” when Amon saw him on the street and later in the bathroom light.
“You could have walked away then, when you saw him in real life, like a child, couldn’t you,” she asked.
In response to this, as well as a barrage of similar questions, Amon repeatedly said: “Nothing that I saw changed my belief that he was 17.”
The jury heard Amon brought a towel to a second incident one to two weeks later, where he is accused of performing oral sex on the boy and attempting to have sex with him.
Amon denied that a second meeting had taken place.
Amon said the pair did not talk much following the first meeting until brief contact via Grindr in October 2022, in which he sent a photo of himself wearing NSW Rural Fire Service gear. This photo, alongside photos of the alleged crime scene, was supplied to media.
The man, now 22, earlier testified that he was “certain” Amon’s account of the age conversation was “not possible”.
He described how his “giddy and excited” feelings at the prospect of a romantic relationship turned to fear once Amon led him towards the toilet.
He said he did not entirely comprehend that sexual acts would take place as he was “developmentally not ready”.
The court heard Amon asked to meet up again, but the boy blocked him because he “knew it was so gross and didn’t want to do it again”.
He outlined psychological impacts including crippling depression, anxiety-induced stomach pains and a drop in grades.
He vaguely confided in a teacher, friends, his mother and police, but he did not feel comfortable enough to initiate a formal investigation until several years later, after learning Amon was in his thirties and working in politics.
Closing addresses in the trial before Acting Justice Robert Allan Hulme will start on Tuesday.
Anyone needing support can contact 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732), National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028, Lifeline 13 11 14, Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800.
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