Politician allegedly sexually assaulted man after event at Parliament House: 'I felt dirty and confused'
A political staffer feared reporting his alleged sexual assault by a then-state minister wouldn't be taken seriously and would hinder his career, 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.
Jurors on Wednesday heard he approached a young, drunk political staffer after a mid-week event at the NSW Parliament House in 2015 and offered him a place to stay for the night.
The staffer said Ward had poured him drinks and tried to kiss him at his Potts Point apartment before climbing into bed with him.
The complainant, now aged in his 30s, became emotional as he recounted moving away from Ward and telling him 'no' when the politician 'groped' his backside and sexually assaulted him.
'I at no stage said yes or gave him any indication that I was pleased with what was going on,' he said.
During the painful assault, the alleged victim said he felt Ward moving next to him and heard him grunting before making a 'relieved kind of groan'.
The political staffer later noticed a sticky substance on the bed and his rear.
'I felt down but also a little dirty and confused,' the complainant said. 'I recalled saying no and I was thinking 'had I not verbalised no as loudly as I should have?'
He also told the court he put a hand between him and Ward when the MP tried to kissed him shortly after arriving at the unit.
Two minutes after the rejection, Ward tried again and the complainant 'just went along with it' because he 'thought he just wanted a kiss and it would end there'.
The morning after the alleged sexual assault, the pair walked to Parliament House together.
Ward continued to praise the young man's 'bright future', the alleged victim said. 'At one stage he said if I stick by him, he'll take care of me,' he said.
He told the jury he was plagued by self-doubt after the sexual assault and hadn't reported it to police because he was worried he would be humiliated.
'I didn't think it was going to be taken seriously,' he said during the emotional testimony.
'Because it wasn't rape and what I thought rape was … I didn't realise how serious it was and how much it impacted me until people started talking to me about it.'
At the time of the assault, he said he didn't want to cause problems for Ward, to whom he felt a 'strange sense of obligation'.
'He was the minister responsible for child safety. Any kind of allegation like this, unless I was confident in the process, was just going to be humiliation,' the complainant told the jury.
'I just thought it was a bad night. I just thought he'd made a mistake.'
He eventually reported the matter to police in 2021.
The staffer explained he was also worried the sexual assault had damaged his career prospects.
He said job security in politics was limited and he didn't want any pressure placed on his employer to fire him, so he had tried to pretend he wasn't upset with Ward.
The jury heard he drafted an email to his superiors about the assault but he didn't send it because he didn't know who to send it to and he was concerned it would be circulated.
When the staffer confided in an acquaintance, she told him he 'wasn't alone' and she knew of someone who allegedly had a similar experience with Ward.
Ward is also accused of indecently assaulting an 18-year-old in 2013 after meeting the man at a networking event on NSW's south coast a year earlier.
The man claims Ward fondled his buttocks and scrotum, and gave him an unwanted back massage despite his repeated requests to stop.
The MP, who was charged over the alleged assaults in 2022, denies the allegations and his lawyers are expected to address jurors later in the trial.
Ward has held the Kiama electorate since 2011, winning three elections as a Liberal before securing the 2023 poll as an independent.
The trial continues on Thursday.
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