The former Sydney radio host Alan Jones has been charged over alleged historic indecent assault and sexual touching offences spanning two decades.

Jones was arrested by New South Wales police after a “long, thorough, protracted” investigation at about 7.45am on Monday morning at a unit in Sydney’s Circular Quay.

He was taken to Day Street police station in central Sydney and charged with a total of 24 offences against eight alleged victims, including 11 counts of aggravated indecent assault where the alleged victim was under the authority of the alleged offender, nine counts of assault with an act of indecency, two counts of sexually touching another person without consent and two counts of common assault.

The offences are alleged to have occurred between 2001 and 2019.

Police claimed the youngest alleged victim was 17 at the time the alleged offences took place.

“In regards to the [alleged] victims, we will allege that the accused knew some of them personally, some of them professionally. And we’ll also allege that some of the [alleged] victims when the alleged offence took place, was the first time that they ever met the accused,” said Michael Fitzgerald, the commissioner in charge of the State Crime Command.

Police claimed that at least one alleged victim was employed by or with Jones.

His lawyer, Chris Murphy, said outside the police station Jones denied any misconduct and would assert his innocence in court. Murphy told reporters Fitzgerald was “in terrible breach” by describing Jones’ alleged victims as victims.

“It’s totally contemptible of the assistant commissioner of police to be praising the witnesses whom he might like to call victims,” Murphy said.

“Nothing has been tested. Nothing has been proven.”

Jones has previously denied all allegations against him. Police spent three-and-a-half hours searching Jones’s harbourside apartment at Macquarie Street, 300 metres from Sydney Opera House and a few floors up from fine dining restaurant Aria.

Jones remained in the building while half a dozen officers searched the flat, before being escorted out via the complex’s carpark, avoiding the assembled media camped out by the building’s green marble doorway.

He was taken to Day Street police station in the CBD in the back of an unmarked police car just after 11am.

Wearing a matching green tracksuit jacket and pants and holding only his walking stick, Jones said nothing and looked straight ahead as he and three officers in the car drove past reporters into the station.

They were joined before noon by Murphy and his colleague Bryan Wrench.

Jones left Day Street with his lawyers shortly after 5pm, frowning but saying nothing to reporters’ questions while he used his cane to get into a white hire car.

The arrest came after months of investigation by NSW police, which began in March to investigate a number of alleged indecent assaults and sexual touching incidents between 2001 and 2019.

Fitzgerald commended the investigators for “their tenacity and hard work in bringing this matter before the courts”.

“Historical matters such as this are incredibly hard to investigate and bring before the courts and I again congratulate them on their ongoing investigation that will continue.”

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The NSW police commissioner, Karen Webb, told reporters on Monday police were anticipating more people may come forward and said the arrest was the result of “long, thorough, protracted investigation”.

“I did visit the strike force some weeks and months ago,” she said. “It is very complex and protracted and I know that those officers have been working tirelessly.”

The state premier, Chris Minns, declined to comment on what he described as a “major investigation”.

“We need to let police conduct this inquiry free of commentary from me and others,” he said.

Jones was granted conditional bail, to appear before Downing Centre local court on 18 December.

Jones hosted breakfast radio in Sydney on 2GB for nearly 20 years. For much of that time he was one of the nation’s most influential media personalities.

His radio career was marked by controversies, including comments that the prime minister Julia Gillard had lied and that her late father had “died of shame” as a result. In 2019 he also made comments about the New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, saying someone should “shove a sock” down her throat.

Jones’s career also spanned teaching, politics and sport. After leaving school he trained as a teacher, and worked across different schools in Queensland and NSW for much of the 1960s and 70s.

Before his radio career Jones tried to enter politics. He launched several failed attempts at preselection for federal parliament and unsuccessfully ran for the NSW parliament.

Jones served as a speechwriter for Malcolm Fraser, the Liberal prime minister, until 1981.

In 1984 Jones became the coach of the Wallabies, the Australian men’s rugby union team. During his time at the helm the team enjoyed significant success.