Olympian allegedly supplied alcohol to 17-year-old before sexual misconduct claim
On Friday, Justice Stephen Rothman granted a suppression order on the identities of two alleged victims of sexual misconduct in Kerry's defamation suit against the NSW Ice Skating Association (NSWISA), which the Olympian filed in the NSW Supreme Court in May.
In May 2024, Kerry was given a lifetime ban from coaching ice skating in the US when the US Centre for SafeSport found he had engaged in 'sexual misconduct involving a minor'. It upheld the ban after an appeal on September 16, 2024.
Kerry is claiming that NSWISA defamed him when it emailed its members regarding the Centre for SafeSport sanction, but did not mention that the ban had involved a 17-year-old in California when Kerry was 21. The age of sexual consent in California is 18. In NSW, it is 16. His lawyers say leaving this out of the email falsely implied Kerry was a paedophile or had sexually molested a child.
Kerry has denied the allegations of sexual misconduct against him.
In response to the defence's request for a suppression of the names of two alleged victims, Kerry's lawyers argued he reserves the right to the 'truth of these allegations being heard in open court'.
They also argued that had the alleged incident with the 17-year-old, known as Claimant No.1, occurred in NSW, it would have been 'perfectly legal'.
In his judgment granting the suppression order, Rothman said the issue was 'not so simple'.
'First, the allegation involves the supply of alcohol by the plaintiff to Claimant No. 1,' Rothman said, adding that there may also be a relationship of authority or trust with Claimant No. 1.
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