The former staffer of a high profile federal member of parliament has been charged over sexual offences against four women, one as young as 16 years old, in Sydney on Saturday.
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Frank Zumbo, who was the long-time chief of staff to Liberal-turned-independent MP for Hughes, Craig Kelly, was charged with nine counts of assault, two counts of aggravated sexual touching and seven counts of aggravated indecent assault of a victim under his authority.
Mr Zumbo was granted bail during an appearance at the Parramatta Local Court on Saturday after spending the night in jail.
NSW Police said a 16-year-old girl and three young women accused him of inappropriately touching them at work.
An investigation into Mr Zumbo's conduct was sparked in August 2020 when police received reports he had indecently assaulted the teenage girl, who was known to him.
Other women then came forward to allege they had been indecently assaulted by the same man.
Police will argue he sexually touched and indecently assaulted the girl and three women aged 23, 26 and 27 on multiple occasions in the workplace between 2014 and 2020.
The period relates to time as deputy commissioner of the South Australian small business commission, where he worked one day a week on a contract worth around $50,000 between 2012 and 2015. By 2016 he was employed as an office manager for Hughes MP Craig Kelly.
Mr Kelly issued a statement on Saturday stating that every citizen was entitled to the presumption of innocence and protection by the rule of law.
"I have spoken with Mr Zumbo and he advises that he categorically denies all accusations, and he will vigorously defend the matter," Mr Kelly wrote.
"The first time I became aware of them, was when they were recently reported in the media, and the police have never at any time interviewed me in respected of these matters."
Mr Zumbo, who resigned from Mr Kelly's office earlier this year following public revelations of the allegations, was arrested at Sutherland Police Station shortly before 6pm on Friday.
Mr Zumbo's ongoing employment in Mr Kelly's office amid the police investigations was a cause of concern to the Prime Minister's Office, according to media reports in February.
Mr Kelly rejected reports that Prime Minister Scott Morrison had told him to get rid of Mr Zumbo, or that the legal issues had any role in him quitting the Liberal party to sit on the cross-bench on February 23.
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Harley Dennett
Former federal politics bureau chief for the Canberra Times, via a career that's taken me from rural Victoria to Washington DC. Telling the stories of my local LGBTI community brought me to political journalism, where I've covered eight budgets, four national elections in two countries, Defence, public service and international governance.
Former federal politics bureau chief for the Canberra Times, via a career that's taken me from rural Victoria to Washington DC. Telling the stories of my local LGBTI community brought me to political journalism, where I've covered eight budgets, four national elections in two countries, Defence, public service and international governance.
