Former NSW Liberal MP Rory Amon charged with breaching bail while fighting child sex offences
A former NSW Liberal MP charged with child sex offences has been arrested after allegedly breaching his bail conditions.
Former Pittwater MP Rory Amon was arrested at the Day St police station in Sydney's CBD about 10pm on Wednesday after allegedly breaching the conditions of his bail.
In a statement, NSW Police said Mr Amon had since been charged and was refused bail to appear before the Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday.
The 35-year-old pleaded not guilty earlier this year to five counts of sexual intercourse with a child aged between 10 and 14.
He is also facing two counts each of charges of attempted sexual intercourse with a child of the same age and indecent assault of someone under 16.
Mr Amon resigned from the NSW parliament within hours of being charged with the sexual assault of a 13-year-old boy in Mona Vale, North Sydney in 2017.
The charges relate to two separate alleged encounters with the boy who prosecutors alleged in documents tendered to court in March met Mr Amon on a gay hook-up app.
The first alleged incident was said to have occurred in the bathroom of an underground carpark where the 13-year-old is alleged to have performed oral sex.
The second alleged incident occurred in the same bathroom, during which police allege Mr Amon performed oral sex on the teen and attempted anal intercourse.
Police allege the complainant told Mr Amon in their initial discussion online – before they had met – that he was 17 years old, while the former Pittwater MP claimed to be 15.
The documents state the boy ceased contact with Mr Amon sometime after before making disclosures to a head teacher at his school who made a report to police.
The boy resumed contact with Mr Amon years later on the app Grindr where Mr Amon allegedly sent sexual messages from multiple accounts.
Mr Amon had sought to relocate from North Sydney where he claimed to have 'faced difficulties' to Potts Point in March.
The application was dismissed by the court following evidence that the complainant feared running into Mr Amon, a circumstance the boy said could be 'personally catastrophic'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
7NEWS
an hour ago
- 7NEWS
City of Vincent suspends e-scooter trial just days after death of Perth father
A second council has pulled the handbrake on e-scooters following a spate of serious incidents. The City of Vincent, a local government in Perth, has suspended its e-scooter trial as of June 6 to allow time for a review. Its rental scooters will be removed from the streets over the next 48 hours. Vincent's announcement comes a day after the City of Perth made the snap decision to suspend rental e-scooters indefinitely following the death of 51-year-old pedestrian Thanh Phan. 'We were very saddened to hear about the tragic accident in the City of Perth,' Vincent Mayor Alison Xamon said. 'Our condolences are with the family. 'Like our neighbours at Perth, we have decided to temporarily suspend our trial so we can review the safety of the hireable e-scooters and consider ways to improve this service or if it even needs to continue.' Phan, a Menora father of two, was allegedly struck by a drunk tourist while out for dinner in the CBD last Saturday night. 'A tragic event occurred at the weekend and our thoughts are with the deceased man's family at this very sad time,' City of Perth Deputy Lord Mayor Bruce Reynolds said on Thursday. 'In response to the fatality, the City of Perth has suspended the hiring of e-scooters.' Phan's death came just days after a 31-year-old man was killed in a late-night crash with a truck. An 11-year-old boy was fortunate not to have lost his right leg in a collision with a car in Lakelands, in Perth's south, on May 23. WA Police are preparing to crack down on unsafe riders and will launch an operation on Friday. Officers will be targeting speeding, mobile phones, riding under the influence of drugs and alcohol, helmet use and passenger limits. 'Police will be adopting an 'education through enforcement' approach to identified offences involving electric rideable devices,' WA Police said. St John Ambulance has responded to 328 serious e-scooter crashes this year. Doctors say devastating crashes involving e-scooters are on the rise, with one seriously injured rider presenting every day at RPH. 'We saw an exponential increase in these injuries over the last five or so years,' RPH trauma surgeon Dieter Weber told 7NEWS last week. 'This has been a new injury pattern that we simply did not have previously.' 'Traumatic injuries' Public health and safety experts have called for improved safety regulations across Australia after a new report identified that 176 injured children aged between five years and 15 years had been taken to Sunshine Coast University Hospital in 2023 and 2024. Researchers found one in 10 e-scooter injuries were life threatening or potentially life threatening, and almost four in 10 cases involved a broken bone. 'The types of injuries ranged from minor fractures and injuries through to traumatic brain injuries requiring a craniotomy,' lead author Matthew Clanfield said. 'A lot of the parents attending were extremely upset to see their child hospitalised and weren't aware how risky e-scooters can be or the legal requirement for supervision under 16.' Public Health Association of Australia chief executive Terry Slevin said e-scooters were 'proving (to be) a genuine public health risk and injury prevention issue'. 'This study provides data in one region and in one hospital, but this is an issue in every town and city where they have landed across Australia,' he said. The Queensland Government is preparing to hold a public inquiry into e-scooters and other mobility devices.
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Kamal El Jamal sentenced after shooting wife through garage ceiling
A Sydney man who shot his wife and severed her spine, causing 'catastrophic injuries', will spend at least four years behind bars. Kamal El Jamal, 35, fired several shots from an illegal firearm into the ceiling of his Condell Park garage, in Sydney's southwest, as his wife, Georgina Vlahos, slept in her bed directly above on January, 12, 2023. El Jamal, pleaded guilty in Downing Centre District Court in February to recklessly causing actual bodily harm and using a pistol not authorised to do so. Appearing in court for sentencing on Friday, El Jamal cried as Judge Sean Grant sentenced him to seven years in prison, with a non-parole period of four years and three months. Judge Grant said the shooting was a 'very grave example' of this type of offending, which involved 'a grave risk of death to another person'. 'The victim has no feeling below her spine … she will never walk again,' he told the court. The prosecution submitted that the victim suffered 'catastrophic injuries' and would undoubtedly require 'significance assistance in various aspects of everyday life'. However, Ms Vlahos had previously written to the court requesting that El Jamal be her caregiver and saying she had 'forgiven' him. Details of the horrific injuries he inflicted upon his then partner were previously read out in court. It wasn't until about 30 minutes after the bullet travelled through the garage ceiling, the floorboards of the main bedroom and the mattress of the bed and hit Ms Vlahos that El Jamal called out to a neighbour for help. The shots severed Ms Vlahos's spine and caused significant damage to her liver and spleen. She suffered a devastating spinal cord injury and was told she would never walk again. At the time of the shooting, El Jamal was 'significantly affected by drugs' and 'did not intend to harm his partner or anyone else', his Legal Aid barrister Ertunc Ozen previously told the court. Court documents say Ms Vlahos told paramedics that she 'didn't remember anything' upon her arrival at Bankstown Hospital, and she 'could not feel her legs'. CCTV footage from the day of the incident shows El Jamal driving up to the ambulance bay in a Mercedes-Benz before stopping and getting out of the vehicle. He then approached paramedics and yelled 'help her, you've got to come and help her', before telling them he 'just found her like this'. While paramedics were tending to Ms Vlahos, El Jamal fled the scene on foot. The reasoning for firing the shot is not known, the court was told on Friday, and the pistol was never recovered. 'It is disturbing that the firearm has not been recovered and that it remains in the community,' Judge Grant told the court. El Jamal's bail was refused during a hearing in February and he was remanded in custody. He will be eligible for parole in April 2028.
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Cop punched cab driver after dispute over fare, court told
An argument over the method of payment for a taxi trip led to an off-duty police officer punching a cab driver in the head outside a Sydney pub, a court has heard. Senior Constable Deane Thomas Bell pleaded guilty to assaulting the driver near the Coogee Bay Hotel, in the city's east, last year after a dispute sparked by the cabbie's refusal to turn on the meter. Downing Centre Local Court heard Bell, 33, had been on a 'long night of drinking' when he got into the cab about 12.10am on April 14, 2024. Agreed facts tendered to court revealed the driver demanded Bell, who was travelling with his partner, pay for the charge upfront 'because he was afraid the offender would 'do a runner'.' Bell replied 'I'm a police officer' before leaving the taxi, but then leaned back through the rear passenger door and punched the driver in the face. He then led investigating police officers on a 'chase', the facts state, until he was arrested about two blocks away at the corner of Brook and Dolphin streets. On Friday, a magistrate dismissed the single charge of common assault against Bell after being satisfied he suffered from 'florid' mental health issues. Defence barrister Michael Gallagher argued for the matter to be dealt with under Section 14 of the Mental Health Act, saying the incident was a 'spur of the moment' assault by a 'drunk' client who had never been in trouble before. Mr Gallagher said the dispute between Bell and the taxi driver was caused by the latter's request to be paid in cash instead of via card. 'Like so many young people they don't carry cash,' he said of his client. The court heard Bell experienced PTSD and 'hyper vigilance' from his service in the police force, and was at the time drinking to 'self medicate'. 'I submit Your Honour would be perfectly satisfied that at the time of the offence … the offender had a mental health condition,' Mr Gallagher said. Prosecutor Brendan Donnelly accepted there was a 'powerful case' for Bell to have his charge dealt with under Section 14. He argued, however, it was important not to pass judgment on the taxi driver for not using his meter – saying Bell was frustrated and intoxicated when he leant back into the car to punch his victim. 'We cannot lose sight of the fact this was a service provider sitting in the front seat of a car, he was no threat to anybody,' Mr Donnelly said. In dismissing the charge Magistrate Jennifer Giles accepted Bell was remorseful, telling the court the incident was 'something he's horrified about'. He had been 'absolutely slavish in terms of taking a proactive approach to his mental health' since that night, she told the court. 'It seems unlikely that he'll do anything like this again,' Ms Giles said. She said it was a 'grave shame' that the 'wicked' attack on a vulnerable person was a 'catalyst' for Bell to seek treatment. 'It seems very clear that Mr Bell has been floridly unwell for quite some time,' the magistrate said. She noted the 'trauma-filled work of being a police officer, dealing with guns being drawn on him, salvaging dead bodies, being the first on scene at bus crashes'. 'He has been haunted by all of that.'
