EXCLUSIVE
Police are actively investigating allegations of serious sexual misconduct against former athlete Alan Jones and have already interviewed his alleged victims.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal New South Wales detectives have been quietly investigating allegations that Jones abused his powerful position as Sydney’s reigning talk radio king.
He is alleged to have preyed on a number of young people and has been accused of indecently assaulting, groping or inappropriately touching them without their consent.
Nine newspapers first reported on the allegations almost a year ago, including claims that Jones inappropriately kissed and groped a 17-year-old student who visited his sprawling Southern Highlands property in 2017.
The allegations relate almost exclusively to his time at Nine Radio’s flagship 2GB station in Sydney.
Jones has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and his lawyers have described the allegations against him as demonstrably false and defamatory.
He has not been charged with any crime.
Police are investigating allegations of sexual misconduct against broadcaster Alan Jones.
Sources familiar with the current police investigation said detectives had already spoken to several of the 83-year-old’s alleged victims.
They are now in contact with past and present colleagues at Macquarie Media and Nine Radio who may have witnessed (or been aware of) the alleged abuse.
Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting Jones is guilty of any crime, only that allegations have been made and police are investigating the veracity of those claims.
It is understood the allegations against Jones may also have emerged during the independent cultural inquiry into Nine’s “toxic” work environment.
Jones spent his last two years at 2GB under the management of the media giant, which acquired a 54.5 per cent controlling stake in Macquarie Media in 2018 before purchasing the remaining shares the following year.
The allegations against Jones come amid allegations that there was a widespread culture of cover-up with Nine that allowed predatory behavior within the company to go unchecked for decades.
The independent review, carried out by workplace culture specialists Intersection and published publicly last month, found that Nine had ‘a systemic problem of abuse of power and authority; intimidation, discrimination and harassment; and sexual harassment’.
The report said the company’s harmful culture had been created by ‘lack of leadership responsibility; power imbalances; gender inequality and lack of diversity; and significant distrust of leaders at all levels of the business.”
It was Nine’s own newspaper, The Sydney Morning Herald, that broke the scandal last December, when investigative journalist Kate McClymont revealed that six men had alleged they had been attacked by the company’s former breakfast radio star .
Jones has maintained his year-long absence from his latest media home at online news streaming channel ADH TV as a result of medical advice warning him he was at risk of suffering “a cardiac episode”.
Breaking his silence on the allegation in a five-minute video in March, he also said he “refuted” the allegations against him “completely and the inferences associated with them.”
Jones said he had “every intention of returning to broadcasting eventually”, but sources close to the station said he had no intention of returning to the spotlight in the immediate future and remained on “indefinite” leave.
A year after his departure from 2GB, Jones was sacked as a columnist by The Daily Telegraph before Sky News also dropped him from its eponymous primetime evening news show in November 2022.
The following month, on December 10, Jones announced that he would be joining conservative news streaming startup ADH TV, and his show Alan Jones: Direct to the People quickly amassed a large following on Facebook after debuting just three days later.
Jones has not appeared on the network since allegations of sexual misconduct were reported last December.
He left Australia just before Christmas in the wake of the scandal for an extended stay in London but, in his online clip addressing the allegations in March, said the trip had been a long-standing commitment to mark his godson’s 21st birthday.
“I have wanted to contact viewers, listeners, friends and supporters, since I indicated that I would return to the air in mid-February, my absence is not what some in the media have suggested,” he said.
‘Health problems have disrupted my plans since my arrival a few weeks ago, back in Australia.
But the “Get Jones” campaign is nothing new in my life.
As Sydney’s talk radio king, Jones was one of the country’s most powerful personalities.
‘Let me explain why I’ve been away, except for the fact that I shouldn’t have to explain my travel arrangements to anyone.
“I had promised my godson, an acting student, that I would take him when he turned 21 to see the best theaters in London’s West End.
“I couldn’t let him down, so we did it, including the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford.”
While Jones has not yet returned to the digital venture, he promised that he would return to the air as soon as he received the all-clear from his doctors.
“However, I will not be returning now due to my latest medical evaluations performed in the last week,” he said in the clip.
‘Many of you have seen photos of me over the last 18 months with a cane.
“I have been postponing a necessary surgery for some time due to television commitments and my physical damage.
‘My doctors are now urging me to address these issues now that I have no future commitments.
Jones says he hasn’t been able to return to work because he struggles with health issues.
“Contrary to what has been written about me, I have been at home consulting doctors for a long time, but last weekend, to treat traumatic pain, among other things, I urgently went to my specialist doctor.”
Jones said he had been informed that due to his “current poor mobility, resulting from the severe pain of his condition, and further compounded by his age, the risk of a cardiovascular event is of considerable concern.”
Jones made a rare public appearance in July when he was a guest speaker at a dinner celebrating Matt Canavan’s 10th anniversary in the Senate at The Paddock restaurant in the coastal town of Yeppoon, outside Rockhampton, Queensland.
He appeared in good spirits as he smiled as he posed for photographs with other attendees, including Liberal National Party representatives Donna Kirkland and Glen Kelly and former Labor Party power man Graham Richardson.
The broadcaster posed smiling broadly for photographs with the likes of former Labor Party powerman Graham Richardson during a rare public appearance in July.
He posed with attendees, including Liberal National Party representatives Donna Kirkland and Glen Kelly, at a dinner to celebrate Matt Canavan’s 10th anniversary in the Senate.
Although Jones insisted he was still mentally agile, he said his immediate priority was his physical well-being.
“I must now follow medical advice and do everything in my power to preserve my existence as comfortably as possible,” he said in his March video.
“I have every intention of returning to broadcasting, but for now I will focus on myself, which at my age I should do.
‘If others want to continue throwing stones at me. That’s your choice.’