NSW MP for Pittwater Rory Amon has quit parliament hours after being charged with child sex offences.
Amon was charged with five counts of having sexual intercourse with a child between the ages of 10 and 14 after he was arrested at Manly police station at 6am on Friday.
The 35-year-old was also charged with two counts of indecent assault of a person under 16, two counts of attempted sexual intercourse with a child between the ages of 10 and 14, and committing an act of indecency with a person under 16.
The charges relate to the alleged sexual assault of a 13-year-old boy at an address in Mona Vale over a two-month period in 2017.
Amon denies the allegations and said he intends to fight the charges in court.
He replaced former planning minister Rob Stokes as MP for Pittwater at the March 2023 election, but his Liberal Party preselection was highly controversial.
Stokes wanted a woman to replace him in the blue ribbon seat and lobbied members of the party’s state executive to not back Amon.
At the same time, Liberal-turned-independent Gareth Ward, who was suspended from parliament as he faced sexual and indecent assault charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty, called state executive members in support of Amon.
Despite the intervention of Perrottet and Stokes, Amon’s endorsement was passed by one vote and he became the preselected candidate.
Ward was also suspended from the parliament, which prevented him from attending the parliamentary precinct, although that suspension did not continue after he successfully retained Kiama.
According to his website, Amon grew up on the northern beaches and, before his career in politics, worked as a family lawyer.
Source: 12ft