Parramatta star Dylan Brown has been suspended for a further four matches and fined $40,000 by the NRL after being found guilty of sexual touching.
The Eels ace had already been stood down for three games after touching a woman’s breasts without her consent at The Golden Sheaf Hotel in Double Bay.
It emerged in court last week Brown had consumed up to 20 alcoholic drinks.
Brown pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual touching when his case returned to Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court, and was sentenced to a Community Correction Order for a period of 18 months.
The fresh penalty handed down by the NRL means Brown will be unavailable until round 23 against St George Illawarra.
The NRL also issued the Warriors’ Josh Curran with a two-match ban and $10,000 fine after his own court proceedings relating to an altercation in Port Macquarie last October was dealt with by the courts. Curran was withdrawn from last week’s loss to South Sydney, and will play no part in Saturday’s clash with Parramatta.
Dylan Brown has been hit with an extra four-week ban after pleading guilty to sexual touching.Credit: Nick Moir
“Firstly, I want to unreservedly apologise to the person involved and the impact it has had on them,” Brown said in a statement last week.
“I am not proud of the behaviour I displayed, and I take full responsibility for my actions. Additionally, I want to apologise to everyone connected to the club for the negative impact that this incident has caused, and I am committed to learning from this experience.”
Under the NRL’s no-fault stand-down policy, players charged with an offence carrying a maximum prison term of 11 years or more are automatically stood down until their court proceedings are finalised. While Brown’s charges didn’t meet that threshold, NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo used his discretionary power to stand him down when five charges were initially laid.
Half of Brown’s fine was suspended pending him completing education and training programs and that he doesn’t breach the NRL’s code of conduct in the next 12 months.
“The NRL does not tolerate unlawful conduct of any nature let alone offences against women,” Abdo said.
“The education and training requirements will be specifically targeted at rehabilitation and prevention. It will also reinforce Dylan’s responsibilities as an NRL player, particularly the responsible consumption of alcohol and the impact his behaviour has had, most importantly on the victim, but also on others, his club and the game as a whole.”
Brown’s unavailability for Saturday’s clash with the Warriors comes with the Eels also missing Mitchell Moses, Clint Gutherson and Reagan Campbell-Gillard because of Origin duty.
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