Australia police charge ex-radio show host Alan Jones with assault

SYDNEY: Australian police on Monday charged former radio show host Alan Jones with 24 assault and sexual touching offences, indictments that followed accusations in a newspaper that Jones had assaulted young men for decades.

Police confirmed the arrest and charges against an 83-year-old man in Sydney but did not name him.

He was widely identified by Australian media as Alan Jones and TV footage on Monday showed him in a police car arriving at a police station.

Police allege the offences took place between 2001 and 2019 against 8 victims, some of whom Jones knew professionally or personally. The youngest was 17 at the time of the offence, they said.

More alleged victims are likely to come forward now charges have been laid, New South Wales police assistant commissioner Michael Fitzgerald told a press conference.

Reuters has sought comment from Jones. He denied the assault allegations made against him last year by the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper. Police said the "energy" generated by the stories had helped bring the case to court.

Jones had hosted radio shows for decades and anchored the popular Sydney breakfast show on radio station 2GB for about 18 years until 2020.

A well-known conservative "shock jock", listeners knew Jones for his sharp questions and equally sharp tongue. In 2019, he said then Prime Minister Scott Morrison should give his then New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern a "few backhanders" and "shove a sock down her throat" because of her views on climate change.

Jones has faced defamation law suits many times.

After leaving 2GB, he worked at a digital start-up, but had been off the air since the Sydney Morning Herald allegations were made.