Gareth Ward: Teen 'could not move' during alleged assault by Kiama MP

An 18-year-old man had no idea how to react when a state MP molested him while he was intoxicated, a jury has been told.

Kiama MP Gareth Ward, 44, is on trial in the NSW District Court after pleading not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent and indecent assault charges.

Prosecutors claim he invited a drunk 18-year-old man to his South Coast home in February 2013 and plied him with drinks before indecently assaulting him.

The man told the jury he had been drinking and was in a “jocular mood” when he decided to play a prank on Ward by pretending to be passed out on the grass in the backyard.

“I could hear that he started running towards me ... and I thought ‘this prank’s going well, got him’,” the complainant recalled.

He said Mr Ward shook him and tried to wake him up before sliding his hands into the teen’s shorts and touching his buttocks for a few seconds.

The 18-year-old froze but opened his eyes when Mr Ward’s hands moved around to touch his scrotum, the jury was told during his emotional testimony.

“The sound of the heavy breath and the (feeling of) skin on skin are the two things that have stuck with me about that moment,” the complainant said.

“I felt like I shrivelled up inside myself. It was the most awkward feeling ever.”

When asked why he did not confront Mr Ward about the touching, he said it was the most awkward he had ever felt and did not want to prolong the encounter.

“I had no idea what to do or how to handle that situation ... so I didn’t do anything,” the complainant said.

He told Mr Ward he wanted to go to bed but the politician said he was too drunk to sleep safely on his own and steered him towards his own bedroom.

Not wanting to reveal his ruse and be forced to address the indecent assault, the complainant said he just accepted that complying would be “the path of least resistance”.

He told the jury that he was lying facedown on the bed when Mr Ward “mounted” him without his permission and started to give him a lower back massage.

“What was going through my head at that time was ... ‘this is not good’,” the complainant recounted.

He said he froze before asking Mr Ward to get off, but the MP resisted and reassured him that he had masseur training.

Mr Ward was much heavier than the 18-year-old, who said he was pinned to the mattress and only able to verbally resist with repeated requests for him to stop.

“I couldn’t move,” the man told jurors.

He said he pretended the night never happened to continue to associate with the state MP, later appointed families minister.

Mr Ward is also accused of sexually assaulting a drunk political staffer after a mid-week event at NSW Parliament House in 2015.

Mr Ward was charged over the allegations in 2022.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) / National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028.