Previous Down Under Public Figure Jailed for Above Five Years for Sexual Offenses
One-time public official sentenced of sexually abusing two individuals connected through his position has been sentenced to five years and nine months in jail.
Trial Information
Gareth Ward, 44, has been in prison since July after the court determined his guilt of attacking a victim and sexually abusing a second person, in separate incidents in 2013 then 2015.
The politician represented the oceanfront municipality of Kiama in the NSW government from over a decade ago. He left his position as a political party official when accusations emerged in 2021 but refused to quit the legislature and won again in 2023.
Sentencing Details
Justice the court official took into account Ward's disability of legal blindness in the ruling and determined "no alternative punishment other than detention could be considered".
Ward, who appeared via remote connection at the judicial venue, will complete at least three years and nine months in detention before he can apply for early release.
The court official said the judicial system needs to "deliver a strong warning to potential criminals that illegal behaviors of this nature will be met with salutary penalties".
Further Details
She also said the convicted man had "avoided punishment for a decade and lived freely without a rehabilitation program or punishment for his crimes during that time".
Following the verdict, the individual initiated a unsuccessful court challenge to continue in government and resigned just prior to the congress could remove him.
Defense attorneys has indicated before he aims to appeal the ruling.
Trial Evidence
The defendant's lengthy proceedings in the state court was told that he asked a intoxicated teenager to his property in the first incident and attacked him three times, despite resistance attempts to resist.
In 2015, he raped a young political staffer at his home after an event at parliament.
Ward had maintained the later assault never occurred, and that the other complainant was inaccurate regarding their interaction from the first incident.
But the prosecution argued that striking similarities in the statements of the two men, who were unacquainted with each other, proved they were being honest.
The panel debated for multiple days before delivering the guilty verdicts.
The political exit led to a by-election in the district in autumn, which was won by the opposition party.
