Ex- Australian Public Figure Sentenced for More Than 60 Months for Sexual Offenses
An ex- lawmaker found guilty of assaulting two young men he met through professional activities was given to five years and nine months in prison.
Case Details
Gareth Ward, mid-forties, was in custody since July after a jury determined his guilt of raping an individual and attacking a second person, in multiple events in over two years.
The politician served the coastal town of the regional area in the state government from 2011. He stepped down as a Liberal Party minister when allegations emerged in 2021 but declined to leave parliament and won again in last year.
Sentencing Details
Judge Kara Shead took into account Ward's disability of vision impairment in the ruling and concluded "no alternative punishment besides imprisonment could be considered".
The convicted individual, who appeared via video-link at the judicial venue, will undergo at minimum three years and nine months in custody before he can request early release.
Justice Shead declared the legal system needs to "deliver a strong warning to potential criminals that illegal behaviors like these will be faced with salutary penalties".
Additional Information
The judge added Ward had "evaded consequences for a decade and lived freely free from a rehabilitation program or consequence for the offenses during those years".
Following the verdict, the individual attempted a failed legal bid to continue in his position and stepped down shortly before the congress could expel him.
His legal team has previously said he intends to challenge the conviction.
Trial Evidence
The defendant's extended court case in the NSW District Court learned that he asked a intoxicated 18-year-old man to his property in 2013 and indecently assaulted him repeatedly, despite the victim's efforts to oppose.
In 2015, he raped a mid-twenties government employee at his home after a gathering at government offices.
The defendant had maintained the 2015 rape never occurred, and that the additional accuser was misremembering their encounter from the earlier year.
However, prosecutors maintained that striking similarities in the testimonies of the victims, who were unacquainted with one another, proved they were accurate in their accounts.
The panel deliberated for multiple days before announcing the findings of guilt.
The political exit caused a replacement vote in the district in last fall, which was won by the challenger.
