Forcible touching Pies star De Goey stood down after New York arrest

By Jon PierikUpdated October 31, 2021 â€" 7.24pmfirst published at 9.17am

Collingwood have stood down Jordan De Goey indefinitely after the star forward faced a New York court and pleaded not guilty to charges of allegedly groping a woman and assaulting her friend.

De Goey’s AFL future is in doubt after he spent Saturday night in a Manhattan holding cell for “forcible touching” and attacking the woman’s friend at a nightclub atop a Chelsea hotel.

Collingwood’s Jordan De Goey.Credit:AFL Photos

Wearing a bathrobe, which he had worn to the party as a Halloween costume, De Goey and friend Luke Dyson later appeared before a New York judge on Sunday, where De Goey pleaded not guilty. He is due to return to court on December 8, two days after the Magpies’ senior players are slated to begin pre-season training.

Under the terms of bail, he must check in by phone once a week and needs to reappear in court in person.

De Goey’s manager, Ryan Vague, said the situation was “very unfortunate” and there was still much to work through, including whether De Goey could return to Australia before his next scheduled court appearance. Vague had been speaking with Collingwood and the AFL Players Association throughout Sunday.

Asked if De Goey’s AFL future was in doubt, he said: “You’ll have to ask Collingwood.”

De Goey was filmed leaving court but had no comment. The Magpies later released a statement confirming the magnitude of the incident.

“The club will continue to pay De Goey under the terms of his contract until such time as an outcome to proceedings against him in the United States is reached or a more complete account of events is established,” the Magpies said in a statement.

“In the interim, De Goey will not be permitted to train or play with Collingwood or make use of club resources, staff or facilities. Collingwood is deeply disappointed by reports and events of the last 48 hours involving De Goey in the US. Given the circumstances, the club believes it is appropriate to remove him from the AFL program.

“Collingwood has been in contact with De Goey and his management today and has explained to both its decision.”

In a statement, the NYPD said De Goey had been charged with “forcible touching”. Police alleged he “grabbed buttocks and vagina outside clothing without permission or authority to do so of a 35-year-old female”. He was also charged with assault, having allegedly “punched with a closed fist and kicked a 37-year-old male causing pain and swelling. Continued to punch and kick victim while victim was on floor with a co-defendant”.

Collingwood star Jordan De Goey leaves a New York court after he was earlier arrested earlier.Credit:Nine News

Dyson, 28, was also charged with forcible touching and assault, where he had allegedly “struck 37-year-old male in the face with a glass bottle causing swelling to lip. Continued to punch and kick victim while victim was on floor with a co-defendant”.

De Goey and Dyson had been drinking and partying at the PHD Rooftop Lounge at the Dream Hotel on West 16th street about 2.30am when they approached a woman on the dance floor.

Dyson and De Goey were arrested at the scene and taken into custody. Police said all parties involved in the incident were intoxicated.

The AFL released a statement on Sunday evening, rubber-stamping Collingwood’s move.

Leading lawyer David Galbally, QC, told The Age that De Goey was facing jail time if found guilty of indecent assault. In Australia, indecent assault can carry a jail term of five years, while gross indecency can be more than 10 years.

De Goey partying with his friend in New York.Credit:Instagram

“If it’s any form of indecency, in terms of indecent assault, it carries a jail sentence. I would think judges have discretion, but they will want to send a message, he being a footballer, they will want to send a message, loud and clear,” Galbally said.

“The police will get every detail about him, every bit of background … and they will run it in court.”

De Goey, who has frustrated Magpies officials through the years by not keeping in shape during the off-season, has spent time during his official leave period training hard at The W Training Facility in southern California under his Monster Energy partnership.

The match-winning forward-midfielder is off contract next season and is expected to be one of the hottest free agents on the market, hoping to land a contract of more than $900,000 a season.

However, Galbally said the Magpies could have grounds to sack De Goey, regardless of whether De Goey was found guilty.

“They would have grounds to terminate his contract if convicted,” Galbally, a former Collingwood board member, said.

“They would probably need to wait to see what happens in terms of what he does, if he pleads guilty or fights it, but, yes, this would be regarded as gross misconduct ... although with his past history, they could go ahead and do it and he would risk having everything aired if he was to bring a breach-of-contract claim. It would all be aired publicly.

“If he said: ‘You [Magpies] couldn’t terminate my contract, you had no right to do it,’ they would say: ‘Yes, we did, for the following reasons’. Then if he issued legal proceedings and it went to court, Collingwood would run every indiscretion he has had. He would be made a public laughingstock, as it were, just to coin a phrase.”

In August, De Goey had an indecent assault charge withdrawn and Victoria Police has been ordered to pay his legal costs.

The charge related to an allegation of indecent assault of a woman in Kew on June 21, 2015. Co-accused Jake Edginton also had the same charge withdrawn.

De Goey has a long list of misdeamenours, including being fined $2075 in August by the Melbourne Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to road offences, including speeding while driving a sports car when he was a P-plater and sending text messages when stationary at traffic lights.

In 2018 De Goey was caught drink-driving while on his P-plates and fined $10,000 and suspended by Collingwood. That incident came a year after he was suspended by his club for lying about how he suffered a broken hand in a bar fight in St Kilda.

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Jon Pierik is a sports journalist at The Age. He covers AFL and has won awards for his cricket and basketball writing.Connect via Twitter or email.

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