Rory Amon allegedly abused 13-year-old in Northern Beaches car park, court hears

Warning: Graphic content

A man has broken down in court as he described alleged sexual assaults by former NSW MP Rory Amon in a car park bathroom when he was 13, saying his feelings quickly turned from “giddy and excited” while they chatted online to fear once they met up in person.

Amon, 35, has pleaded not guilty to 10 counts over two alleged incidents while he was a Northern Beaches councillor, including five counts of sexual intercourse with a child between the ages of 10 and 14, two counts of indecent assault of a person under 16, two counts of attempted sexual intercourse with a child between the ages of 10 and 14, and committing an act of indecency with a person under 16.

During opening addresses on Friday, Crown prosecutor Meaghan Fleeton told the jury they will hear evidence that the boy told Amon he was 15 at the time they connected on a dating app in June or July 2017.

The defence argued that Amon, who was 27 at the time, believed he was communicating with someone aged at least 16.

While testifying, the now-22-year-old described making a profile on a gay dating app when he was 13 and in year eight because he wanted “connection [and] attention”, adding he was “very insecure”.

He said he lied about his age to create a profile, as the minimum age was 18, using a photo of his upper body because he wanted to remain anonymous.

While he could not remember whether he first reached out to Amon, he said he was surprised that most of the users were older men and did not think he would have spoken first.

The man – who cannot be identified for legal reasons – said the pair spoke briefly on the app before moving to Snapchat at Amon’s request, as messages and photos are deleted there.

He testified that he remembered telling a friend at a chicken shop that he was “essentially excited and felt a bit giddy … and felt it was the precursor to something romantic”.

The complainant said the pair discussed meeting up in person. Amon offered to pick him up but because he was a stranger, they agreed on meeting outside the then-teenager’s parents’ northern beaches apartment, where he lived.

Despite there being parking available out the front, the man said, Amon chose to park further down the street. He told his parents he was going for a run and met Amon out the front before taking him into a communal courtyard.

At this point, he said, Amon asked to go somewhere “more quiet”.

“He was looking around and noticed a flight of stairs and that leads down to the garage and I kind of followed him,” the man said.

“I said we could just hang out in that corridor that leads down to the garage because I was feeling a bit scared by this point”.

‘I knew it was so gross, and I didn’t want to do it again … I just got stressed out and blocked him on Snapchat.’

The complainant

The boy said he followed Amon into a shared bathroom in the car park and closed the door.

As Fleeton showed the boy photos of the corridor and bath room, he put his head in his hands and broke down. Asked by the judge if he wanted a break, he said he did not, and continued answering questions.

Amon is accused of committing several sexual assaults inside the bathroom, including oral sex. Most are too graphic to detail.

Afterwards, they said goodbye and the man left to go home. Later that night, he said, Amon sent him a sexual message via Snapchat.

The pair continued communicating over the next few days and arranged to meet a second time inside the same bathroom, the man said.

This time, Amon brought a towel with him before allegedly committing the second set of sexual assaults.

After the alleged assaults, the pair parted ways. The man described Amon being “very insistent” on meeting again for more sexual acts, but he “didn’t know how to say no”.

“I still didn’t have the vocabulary to describe what, like, happened in terms of how it made me feel,” he said.

“But I knew it was so gross, and I didn’t want to do it again … I made up that I was moving away … And I just got stressed out and blocked him on Snapchat”.

This was the last time the pair met in person.

The court heard that afterwards, the complainant told his school’s wellbeing teacher about the alleged sexual assault, but was reluctant to provide details.

The experience worsened his anxiety and depression, he said.

“I just felt very detached from reality; I just kind of would go from having, like, outbursts of cries and kind of just sitting in bed staring at the wall,” he said.

The court earlier heard that the teacher told police and the boy’s mother about the disclosure. Police spoke briefly with the boy, but the investigation was suspended as he still did not feel comfortable elaborating. The court heard the boy also confided in his friends and psychologist, who will be called to testify.

Some time in 2019 or 2020, the pair reconnected on Snapchat for “just a couple of weeks”, Fleeton said in her opening address, adding that the boy “found out some information that identified this accused as being the councillor for the Narrabeen Ward of the Northern Beaches Council”.

“That was the first time he became aware of the identity of the accused,” she said.

In late June 2022, the complainant formally reported the matter to police. He was by then 18.

One month later, the Crown alleges, there was “some brief contact” between the pair on the dating app Grindr.

Amon was first spoken to by police in March 2024 and was arrested three months later.

“It is very important to note that due to the complainant’s age, he could not consent to … any of the sexual acts that comprise counts on the indictment,” Fleeton said.

Delivering his opening address, Amon’s lawyer Matthew Johnston, SC, did not dispute that the pair connected online and engaged in sexual activity, but disputed that they met up twice.

He argued that “at no point did the complainant provide Mr Amon his real age”.

Johnston said that Amon’s case was that he “held an honest and reasonable belief at all times that [the boy] was at least 16 years of age, and that is an innocent state of mind”.

The trial before Acting Justice Robert Allan Hulme continues.

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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