Ex- Australian Lawmaker Imprisoned for Above 60 Months for Sexual Offenses
An ex- Australian politician sentenced of assaulting two victims he met through professional activities was given to five years and nine months in jail.
Trial Information
Gareth Ward, 44, was in prison since last summer after the court found him guilty of attacking one man and sexually abusing another, in different occasions in over two years.
Ward represented the coastal town of Kiama in the NSW government from over a decade ago. He left his position as a Liberal Party minister when accusations surfaced in 2021 but resisted resigning from his seat and won again in 2023.
Court Ruling
Justice Kara Shead evaluated his visual impairment of sight disability in the judgment and determined "no different consequence except for incarceration could be considered".
The convicted individual, who appeared via remote connection at the courthouse, will complete at least three years and nine months in custody before he can seek parole.
Justice Shead said the court needs to "issue a clear statement to potential criminals that sexual offendings like these will be faced with significant consequences".
Additional Information
Additionally stated the defendant had "escaped justice for multiple years and experienced freedom free from a programme or consequence for his crimes during that period".
After his conviction, the individual launched a failed appeal attempt to continue in government and resigned just prior to the congress could remove him.
Defense attorneys has stated earlier he aims to contest the guilty verdict.
Case Facts
Ward's lengthy proceedings in the state court learned that he asked a intoxicated teenager to his home in 2013 and attacked him three times, despite the victim's efforts to resist.
Two years later, he raped a mid-twenties government employee at his residence after a gathering at parliament.
Ward had maintained the 2015 rape was fabricated, and that the additional accuser was inaccurate regarding their encounter from the earlier year.
However, prosecutors contended that notable parallels in the accounts of the two men, who had no connection to the other, proved they were accurate in their accounts.
The panel deliberated for three days before delivering the convictions.
His departure led to a special election in the district in last fall, which was won by the opposition party.
