Former Pittwater MP Rory Amon is found guilty at his retrial, eight months after a first jury acquitted him of eight charges
A NSW Supreme Court jury has found former Liberal MP Rory Amon guilty of two child sex offences against a 13-year-old boy in 2017, after about four hours of deliberation on Friday. A first jury in March acquitted him of eight charges and could not agree on these two. He remains on bail and returns to court on 27 November for a sentence hearing.
Updates
- About 2.15pm AWSTLatest
The jury finds Rory Amon guilty of sexual intercourse with a person aged between 10 and 14 and indecent assault of a person under 16, after about four hours of deliberation. He remains on bail until a sentence hearing on 27 November.
Three things to know
- The jury found Mr Amon guilty of sexual intercourse with a person aged between 10 and 14, and of indecent assault of a person under 16.
- He did not dispute that sexual activity took place. His defence was that he believed the boy was 17; the jury rejected it.
- He quit as the member for Pittwater in August 2024 after being charged. He stays on bail until his sentence hearing on 27 November.
Former NSW Liberal MP Rory Amon has been found guilty of two child sex offences against a 13-year-old boy, at a retrial in the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney.
The jury returned its verdicts on Friday afternoon, Sydney time, after deliberating for about four hours. It found him guilty of one count of sexual intercourse with a person aged between 10 and 14 and one count of indecent assault of a person under 16. Both offences relate to the first time he met the boy in person, in 2017.
Mr Amon remains on bail. A sentence hearing is listed for Friday 27 November.
What did the jury have to decide?
Mr Amon did not dispute that sexual activity happened at that meeting. His case was that he honestly and reasonably believed the boy was 17, because that is what he said the boy had told him. The court heard the boy has said he told Mr Amon he was 15. He was 13.
By finding him guilty, the jury rejected that defence.
Why was there a second trial?
Mr Amon first stood trial in March on 10 charges involving the same boy. That jury found him not guilty of eight of them, all relating to a second alleged meeting that Mr Amon denied had ever taken place. It could not reach a verdict on the remaining two, which concerned the meeting he accepted had happened. The Director of Public Prosecutions sought a retrial on those two counts, and it was heard this week.
Who is Rory Amon?
Mr Amon was the Liberal member for Pittwater, on Sydney’s northern beaches. He resigned from the NSW Parliament on 30 August 2024, after he was charged, when he was 27. His resignation forced a by-election in the seat.
Can the boy be named?
No. The law in NSW protects the identity of complainants in sexual offence cases, and VNN does not publish details that could identify him.
VNN will update this story as more is confirmed.
How we got here
The key moments that brought this story into focus. Open any moment for detail.
2017The offences
Mr Amon meets a 13-year-old boy in person for the first time.
30 August 2024Resignation
Mr Amon quits as the member for Pittwater after being charged with child sex offences.
March 2026First trial
A jury acquits him of eight charges and cannot agree on two others.
This weekRetrial
The two remaining counts are heard again in the NSW Supreme Court.
13 November 2026Verdict
The jury finds him guilty on both counts.
What happens next
Mr Amon is due back in the NSW Supreme Court on Friday 27 November for a sentence hearing. He remains on bail until then. Any appeal would be a matter for his lawyers once the case is finalised.
Sources
- VNN
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