A former senior Cricket Australia employee is facing two separate charges of sexually touching men, including one alleged offence against a former colleague after an end-of-season party.
CA’s former head of communications Tim Whittaker appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday charged with sexually touching a person without their consent two men without consent in 2016 and 2019.
Former Cricket Australia communications manager Tim Whittaker.Credit:Getty Images
Whittaker, 37, is yet to formally enter a plea but will fight the charges at a contested hearing scheduled to begin on May 1.
Whittaker had been spokesperson for CA in some of the organisation’s biggest issues, including its public handling of the sandpaper scandal in 2018 and the pay dispute between players and administrators in 2017.
Police allege Whittaker separately sexually touched the two men at his house when both men were heavily intoxicated, the court heard.
Prosecutor Bianca Moleta, for Victoria Police, said Whittaker and a workmate had attended a CA end-of-season function on March 15, 2019, and that a group then moved to a pub for further celebrations. A smaller contingent went to Whittaker’s Abbotsford home about 2am the next day.
Moleta said the complainant fell asleep on the couch about 4.30am and woke up in Whittaker’s bed, where the accused allegedly sexually touched him. The complainant made a report to CA and police on March 18 that year.
Whittaker had completed his employment with CA hours before the alleged offending, the court heard.
In the 2016 case, Moleta said Whittaker and a Cricket Victoria staff member had been drinking at a pub on January 8 before they and another person returned to the accused’s house for more drinks.
The complainant went to sleep in Whittaker’s bed and woke to find the accused sexually touching him, the prosecutor said.
The complainant in the 2016 case reported the matter to police in December last year after being told of another alleged incident involving Whittaker.
Both complainants, though based in Melbourne and working in cricket, did not report directly to Whittaker. The CV staff member had never worked under him. Whittaker, though, had offered him a character reference in a job application for the state association.
Moleta told the court both men were incapable of consenting as they were heavily intoxicated, and were in “completely vulnerable” positions. They were entitled to feel safe in the home of a senior employee, she said.
Both complainants had suffered “intimate embarrassment”, the prosecutor said, and had difficulty coming forward to police and family.
Defence counsel Mark Sturges said Whittaker had demonstrated good character before the alleged offending, and had since undertaken steps to address his alcohol and mental health issues.
Whittaker has since moved to Queensland to live with his parents and had found employment, the court was told.
Magistrate Jo Metcalf indicated Whittaker could face jail if found guilty. She extended his bail to return to court next year.
Cricket Australia declined to comment.
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