A mother has told a trial she trusted Alan Jones as a mentor to her son before the broadcaster allegedly indecently assaulted the 17-year-old schoolboy at his private farm.
One of Mr Jones's five alleged victims, known as Complainant A, alleges the radio host kissed him, put his tongue in his mouth and touched his buttocks when he visited Mr Jones's property in the Southern Highlands as a 17-year-old schoolboy.
The 85-year-old has pleaded not guilty to 21 counts of indecent assault and sexually touching, relating to several alleged incidents against five males between 2003 and 2020.
The court previously heard the complainant was 13 years old when he sent a letter to the then-2GB radio host, requesting help for his single mother and their serious financial struggles.
Emails read to the court show Mr Jones developed a relationship with the boy over several years, and that the prominent media figure helped wipe $600,000 off the mother's home loan and provided $100,000 to assist with the completion of their home.
Giving evidence at the trial on Tuesday, the boy's mother told the court her son met up with Mr Jones on several occasions including for private breakfasts at his Circular Quay apartment and lunch at a pub, but that she was never invited.
She recalled that when her son was 17 and had been invited by Mr Jones to spend two nights at his Fitzroy Falls farm and that she felt "really comfortable" with him going because she "trusted" the radio host.
"[Someone] who saw that my son was intelligent as he is."
Mother breaks down reading son's note
The woman told the court that when her son returned home from the trip, "his mood was different" and she "knew straight away something was up".
"He wasn't sleeping, he was just staying up," she said.
She said her son wrote her a letter 10 days later, saying "something happened at Fitzroy Falls" and that "someone did something they shouldn't have" but did not go into explicit detail.
The mother broke down several times in the witness box, including when her son's letter was placed in front of her during her testimony.
The woman said after receiving the note she asked her son if he wanted to report what happened to police.
"He [my son] said to me that 'I wasn't raped'," she said.
Mother tells court of her 'dire' financial situation
The mother told the court that, before the alleged assault that she was in a "dire" situation, with a $1.3 million mortgage hanging over her head and the builder of her unfinished home walking off the job.
The trial heard the woman's partner had also left the country and would often miss child support payments.
The woman said a family friend suggested she reach out to the broadcaster for help because "he's influential and there might be people he knows who can help you".
The mother said she provided information to her son to send to Mr Jones, who replied with an email saying, "you sound a special sort of young man," and asking for additional information.
"When he [my son] told me that, I was incredibly grateful that someone of his stature was interested in what we were doing because we got such a prompt reply," the mother said.
"I was desperate, people who are being served repossession papers are not cruising along in life."
Court told Mr Jones put mother in contact with head of major bank
The woman told the court that Mr Jones organised for the head of the Commonwealth Bank at the time to call her to understand more about her circumstances and try to find a "manageable" situation for the family.
"I was just so overwhelmed by the fact that he [the head of the bank] was willing to assist," she said.
The woman told the court that while the mortgage had been renegotiated, the agreement had not been finalised because the house was still under her estranged partner's name.
The woman said after her son wrote her the letter disclosing the alleged incident, she told him to no longer communicate with Mr Jones.
Prosecutor Georgina Wright SC asked the mother why she continued to have correspondence with Mr Jones after her son had disclosed the alleged assault to her.
"Nothing with the bank was finalised, I was scared that … that as quick as he rang [the head of CBA] that he would ring up and reverse the situation," she said.
