Nasty details emerge in Lions coach’s Aussie assault case
Defence coach Joey Mongalo is in Sydney to front up against allegations of sexual harassment against a hotel employee during the team's Super Rugby tour earlier this year.
Joey Mongalo, a former Lions coach, has turned the Bulls into one of the best defensive teams in the country. Picture: Getty Images
Sordid details have emerged in Lions defence coach Joey Mongalo’s case over allegations of indecent assault in Australia.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney heard that the 33-year-old forced a hotel employee at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Cogee – where the team was staying as part of its Super Rugby tour – to touch him indecently and also stuck his finger in her mouth.
A friend of the female employee testified that she had relayed the whole experience to her the day after the alleged incident.
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Mongalo apparently had asked the employee to point him to the nearest balcony, of which the first one was locked.
Finding a second, open one, the Lions coaching staff member then “started saying strange things about Anzac Day (a local national day of remembrance) coming up”.
The employee then allegedly asked Mongalo why he was staring at her.
“He said something like ‘I want you’,”the witness testified.
Mongalo is then alleged to have taken the employee’s hand and “placing it on his private area, which was erect and outside his clothing”.
The employee hurriedly then exited the room.
The witness said that the employee was initially reluctant to tell hotel management about the incident as “(Mongalo) is part of the football team. They stay at the hotel all the time, they’re a big client.”.
The court also heard that CCTV footage revealed that Mongalo and the employee had interacted at least two times at a hotel counter before the alleged incident.
One of these encounters involved the employee handing Mongalo a piece of paper with an address and phone number on it, which the investigating officer subsequently testified was fake.
The Lions previously said in a statement that it would allow the law to run its course.
The case continues.
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