Ex-MP Rory Amon used fake name on Snapchat before allegedly raping 13yo

WARNING: Distressing content. The fake name and Snapchat profile used by a former MP before he allegedly raped a 13-year-old boy in a carpark bathroom has been revealed in documents released by the court. Roderick “Rory” Amon is accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy in a bathroom in the underground carpark of the teen’s apartment complex where he lived with his parents in 2017. The former Northern Beaches councillor, who was aged 27 at the time, does not dispute that he and the boy met on a gay dating site and engaged in sexual activity in 2017, but he argues that he believed the boy was at least 16 and that they only met once. Mr Amon has pleaded not guilty to 10 historical child sexual offences. Prosecutors allege the pair moved from a gay dating site to the social media app Snapchat where they allegedly exchanged explicit images and videos before meeting late one night at the boy’s apartment complex. Mr Amon used the name “brandcoopz1” on Snapchat, with a photo tendered to the court showing the Snapchat profile he allegedly used to communicate with the boy. His profile sports an Adidas top and jacket. The complainant, now 22, previously claimed to the jury that he blocked Mr Amon on Snapchat after he asked if they could meet up again following their alleged sexual encounters. “I said that I was moving away … and he said ‘I want to f--k you before you go, and I got stressed out and blocked him on Snapchat,” the man told the jury. The man had also blocked several accounts with similar usernames as he was worried about being contacted by Mr Amon. “On occasions where I would doubt my recollection of the defendant’s Snapchat username I would block every Snapchat account with a similar username,” the man said. The boy told the court he did not discover Mr Amon’s true identity until years later when a friend showed him a photo of Mr Amon who was, by then, a councillor in the Northern Beaches. The complainant’s best friend told the jury he was “angry” when he found out Mr Amon was a public figure. “He had learnt the identity of the man and that he was much older than ... the man had told him initially,” she told the jury on Wednesday. “Because of the bigger age gap he seemed to be progressively — well, he got more angry. “Also he found out the man was a lawyer and in the public eye who had some responsibility with children. It made him more angry, so that’s why I think he went to the police.” Questions over boy’s age Whether Mr Amon truly believed the boy was at least 16 is a crucial element of the case, with the complainant previously agreeing he did not tell Mr Amon his true age and lied to meet the dating site’s age requirements. The complainant earlier maintained he believed he told Mr Amon he was 15 at some stage under examination from the ex-MP’s lawyer Matthew Johnston SC. His best friend on Wednesday told the jury she believed the complainant told her he had lied and told Mr Amon he was 16, and later told the ex-MP he was 13. “I think at some point he …(said) his real age to the man and it still continued,” the woman told the jury. She later tried to “clarify” this, saying she did not think what age the boy told Mr Amon was “massively important” at the time she made her statement to the police but instead placed more weight on “how young (the boy) looked”. “We’re focusing on your words,” Mr Johnston said. Mr Johnston then submitted the boy at no stage told Mr Amon his true age. “I would say I cannot vividly remember that exact sentence, no,” the woman said. She added her friend was “very distressed” while telling her about the alleged encounters and communications back when they were in high school. “His eyes were watering, I’d never seen him in the state he was ... he was very upset,” she said. Prosecutors alleged Mr Amon directed the boy to perform oral sex on him in the carpark bathroom, and in a second encounter in the same bathroom, performed oral sex on the boy before asking him to attempt to have sex with him. The sex did not last long and Mr Amon allegedly asked the boy to masturbate himself while he did the same, the jury was previously told. Mr Amon has maintained his innocence and the trial in the NSW Supreme Court continues. news.com.au mental health helplines