From Danny Weidler's columb today.
Woman at centre of Burgess case appears to be well known to family
The alleged victim in the George Burgess matter was apparently no stranger to the Burgess family. Leaked text messages suggest that she reached out to three of the Burgess brothers, George, Tom and Luke, in the lead-up to the alleged incident that has jeopardised the remaining years of George’s career.
St George Illawarra forward George Burgess was charged on Monday with sexually touching a woman without consent and will face court next month. The incident is alleged to have occurred in Sydney earlier this month.
According to the text messages, the woman was trying to obtain charity items for a fundraising event and sent messages to the brothers. She appears to have known them for a number of years and has previously extended an invitation to at least one of the brothers – not George – to come to her home to have a “cup of tea”. I have seen text messages of this nature, which state: “I’ll be … living on my own. You can pop over for a cuppa.”
On March 4, she sent messages to the twins, George (pictured) and Tom, asking for help with a fundraiser. “Hi guys. It’s a huge favour to ask you guys please. My sister is organising [a fundraiser],” the message reads. “We want to get some footy jerseys signed. We will purchase them unless you’re willing to donate one and auction them off. If I got your respective team jersey to you, could you please get it signed for us?”
She then sent the message to Luke Burgess because she had not received a reply.
“Hey Luke, can you do me a favour please?” she wrote. “I just messaged George and Tom, but no idea if I still have their current phone numbers. My sister is organising [a fundraiser] and we want to get a couple of jerseys signed to auction off. So I’ve asked the boys if they could help. Would you please let them know I’m trying to get in touch with them. Either if they can message me here or on my number. I appreciate your help.”
The incident is alleged to have happened when George was delivering the jumper to her place on March 8. He was charged on March 21.
The NRL has the police report and the integrity unit wants to speak to George as the governing body assesses whether it needs to intervene and possibly stand George down. The NRL will not consider the moral issues, and will only focus on the .... charge when making its decision.
