The 83-year-old was arrested at his Sydney apartment early on Monday morning as detectives from the New South Wales (NSW) Police Child Abuse Squad searched the harbor front property and seized electronic devices.

Mr Jones is one of Australia’s most influential people media figures and has previously denied allegations of abuse.

He now faces 24 charges for alleged incidents between 2001 and 2019, including 11 counts of aggravated indecent assault.

All but two counts of common assault are sex offenses.

Police said some of the alleged victims knew the radio titan personally and at least one was employed by him.

Others may have been assaulted the first time they met him, NSW Police’s Michael Fitzgerald told reporters.

“I want to commend the victims and their courage in coming forward. (They) now have the ability to have a voice. This is what they asked for,” he said.

Commissioner Karen Webb said earlier that police had carried out a “very complex”, “prolonged” and “thorough” investigation and expected more alleged victims to now come forward.

“There is no matter too old to investigate,” she told a news conference.

— You will be listened to and we will take your problem seriously.

Mr Jones has been granted conditional bail and will appear in court on December 18.

A former teacher, Mr Jones coached Australia’s national rugby union team between 1984 and 1988 before moving on to a career in radio.

He also at times worked as a speechwriter and adviser to Liberal Party figures – including former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser – and launched several failed bids to represent the party in both state and national politics. federal.

A staple of Sydney airwaves on local station 2GB for decades, Mr Jones juggled these duties with TV commentary gigs before retiring from full-time work in 2020, citing health issues .

He made headlines in 2012 for suggesting that the father of the then prime minister, Julia Gillard, “should die of shame”, and in 2019 he faced a massive advertiser boycott after saying that someone should “push a stocking’ around the neck of New Zealand’s leader at the time, Jacinda Ardern.

Mr. Jones has also been successfully sued for defamation numerous times.