Former NSW MP Rory Amon found guilty of sexually assaulting 13-year-old boy

Résumé détaillé

Former NSW Liberal MP Rory Amon, 37, has been found guilty by a jury of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy after claiming he believed the boy was over the age of 16

A former NSW Liberal MP could face a lengthy jail term after a jury found him guilty of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy.

Rory Amon was found guilty on Friday of one count of sexual intercourse with a person aged between 10 and 14, and of indecently assaulting a child. The jury reached a verdict after around four hours of deliberations.

The 37-year-old was standing trial for a second time at the New South Wales Supreme Court after a previous jury cleared him of eight separate child sex offences in March, but failed to reach a verdict on the other two.

The case centred on Amon's contact with a 13-year-old boy, who he met through an adults-only website, the court heard.

Amon had consistently denied the allegations, claiming he genuinely believed the boy was over 16. His original trial heard the boy had given a false age when signing up to the gay dating app and repeated it during conversations with Amon.

The pair exchanged explicit images before arranging to meet in 2017 in the car park of the boy's apartment block, the court heard.

At the time, Amon was working full-time for Jason Falinski, a federal MP representing the Australian constituency of Mackellar. He later served two terms on the Northern Beaches council before being elected as the Liberal MP for Pittwater in 2023.

But the charges brought his fledging political career to an abrupt end, with Amon expelled from the Liberal Party and forced to resign just months after his election in March 2023.

His departure triggered a by-election, in which the Liberals lost the previously safe seat to an independent candidate.

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