Footy star George Burgess learns his fate after being accused of sexually touching woman who’d known and trusted him for 10 years
Former NRL star George Burgess went to a woman’s home with the intention of being intimate with her while delivering a jersey for a charity event but did not grope her, a magistrate has heard.
George Burgess pleaded not guilty to a single charge of sexually touching another person without consent while at the woman’s Mascot home in Sydney in March 2022.
The former St George Illawarra Dragons and South Sydney Rabbitohs striker admitted going to the home of the woman, whom he had known for about a decade, after agreeing to donate a signed jersey to charity.
As Mr Burgess called the court via audio-visual link, Magistrate Emma Manea told the court the former NRL player had visited the woman’s home for just 11 minutes from 10.24am to 10.35am.
The magistrate told the court she believed Mr Burgess’ evidence and acquitted the former footballer.
Former NRL forward George Burgess has been cleared of groping a woman he knew
The former St George Illawarra Dragons and South Sydney Rabbitohs forward retired at the end of the 2022 season
Bryan Wrench represented the NRL star at Downing Center Courthouse while Burgess appeared via videolink
Earlier this year, Burgess told the court he was only “cheeky and friendly” to the woman but it was “nothing more than that”.
He was married at the time but told the court he planned to be intimate with the woman and admitted to being “flirty”, asking her to “stay and be naughty” with him.
During the first day of the hearing in October 2023, the woman told the court she felt “violated” when Mr Burgess tried to kiss her moments after handing over the jumper.
She offered him a cup of tea to “defuse the situation.”
“I opened the closet and he turned around (and) grabbed me at the bottom,” the woman told police in a body-worn vision that was played in court.
‘I froze inside and just looked at the tea. He put his hand on either side of my body and pressed himself right against me. … I told him, ‘This isn’t going to happen.'”
Burgess had admitted going to the woman’s home to drop off a sweater for a charity event
Burgess admitted he intended to be intimate with the woman but denied groping her
The court was told Mr Burgess was asked if he was still married and he replied: ‘Yes, but you know how it goes.’
Mr Burgess continued: ‘Come on, five minutes, stay and be naughty with me.’
He denied kissing the woman or grabbing her buttocks, but said he put his hand on her back as she made him a cup of tea ‘to be friendly’.
“She walked over to the kitchen bench and I came up a little behind her to see what tea she was having because I like Yorkshire tea,” Burgess told the court in March.
The court was told the woman said: ‘I’m not that kind of girl, I wouldn’t do that to another woman.’
While sitting in the lounge, Mr Burgess admitted telling her: ‘We’ve known each other for 10 years, nothing has ever happened between us, but something should happen.’
Burgess and the woman had known each other for ten years before the incident occurred
Burgess admitted he was ‘gutted and shocked’ after receiving a message from the woman following the incident
In his testimony, Burgess admitted that he noticed the woman was feeling “a little bit uncomfortable,” which prompted him to leave.
When asked in court if the woman had ‘rejected’ his advances from the moment he arrived, Burgess said ‘yes’.
The court was told Burgess sent the woman a “horny devil emoji” after she left her home, which she ignored, but later sent a message saying she was “really uncomfortable” with what had happened.
“She said you had put a huge cloud over something so nice about the sweater and that you had known each other for ten years. She thought she could trust you in her own home,” said police prosecutor Adrian Walsh. to Mr Burgess during his testimony.
Mr Burgess told the court he was ‘upset and shocked’ by the message and replied that he was ‘so sorry’ as he wanted to ‘defuse’ the situation.
The prosecutor asked, “You tried to water it down so it would protect your family and your career.”
“Yes,” Mr Burgess replied.
The woman was emotional when she gave evidence in October. She told the court she was ‘petrified’ during the conversation and wanted to get Mr Burgess out of the house.
She said she felt ‘uncomfortable’ because Mr Burgess was a ‘six foot eight man’, double her weight and he had ‘invaded’ her house.
Mr Burgess, who played for the St George Illawarra Dragons in 2022, announced his retirement that year.
But he returned last season to win a premiership with the Cairns Brothers in the Cairns and District Rugby League competition before retiring again.