A former Liberal MP will lose thousands of dollars after being forced to break a newly signed lease due to historical child sex allegations.

Roderick “Rory” Amon is accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy he knew on Sydney’s northern beaches in 2017.

The 35-year-old former state MP for Pittwater appeared at Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court on Wednesday after pleading not guilty to the allegations.

He asked the court to vary his bail to allow him to live in Potts Point, in Sydney’s inner east, after he signed a lease for a home in January.

Amon’s barrister Clare O’Neill said there was “nothing nefarious” about her client wanting to move homes to an area where the complainant neither worked nor lived.

She recognised it wasn’t ideal that Amon had signed a lease before approaching his lawyers about a bail variation, but those events were an unfortunate result of the tight Sydney rental market.

Amon had been looking for a new home because he was well known on Sydney’s northern beaches and had faced difficulties living there, the court was told.

But prosecutors noted the complainant – now in his 20s – worked near Potts Point and often socialised in the area.

Judge David Scully said the alleged victim had labelled the potential move “personally catastrophic” and raised concerns for his safety as a result of Amon’s behaviour during the years-long investigation into his complaint.

The judge refused to grant the bail variation after determining the risk of Amon running into his alleged victim and causing psychological distress was too high.

The former Liberal MP would lose several thousands of dollars by breaking his lease, the court was told.

Amon has been on bail since he was charged in August, more than seven years after the alleged offences.

He is due to stand trial in the district court on 10 charges, including five counts of sexual intercourse with a person over the age of 10 and under 14.

He resigned from the NSW Liberal Party after the allegations against him became public.