Ex- Down Under Public Figure Jailed for More Than 60 Months for Sex Crimes
An ex- Australian politician found guilty of assaulting two individuals he met through professional activities received a sentence to 69 months in jail.
Trial Information
Gareth Ward, mid-forties, has been in jail since mid-year after judicial panel determined his guilt of raping one man and sexually abusing a second person, in multiple events in over two years.
Ward represented the coastal town of the regional area in the New South Wales parliament from 2011. He resigned as a political party minister when accusations emerged in 2021 but resisted resigning from the legislature and was re-elected in last year.
Judgment Information
The presiding officer the judicial figure evaluated the defendant's condition of legal blindness in her sentence and concluded "no alternative punishment other than incarceration could be considered".
Ward, who appeared via video-link at the courthouse, will complete at minimum three years and nine months in custody before he can seek parole.
Justice Shead declared the judicial system needs to "issue a clear statement to potential criminals that criminal acts such as this will be subject to significant consequences".
Further Details
She also said the defendant had "escaped justice for a decade and enjoyed a life absent a programme or penalty for his actions during those years".
Post-trial, Ward initiated a failed court challenge to remain in his position and left office just prior to the members could oust him.
Representatives has indicated before he aims to appeal the ruling.
Case Facts
His nine-week trial in the NSW District Court learned that he invited a drunk teenager to his residence in 2013 and sexually abused him repeatedly, despite resistance attempts to resist.
In 2015, he attacked a young government employee at his home after a gathering at government offices.
He had claimed the 2015 rape never occurred, and that the first victim was confused about their encounter from the first incident.
However, prosecutors argued that notable parallels in the testimonies of the two men, who were unacquainted with one another, proved they were accurate in their accounts.
A jury deliberated for multiple days before delivering the convictions.
The political exit caused a by-election in his constituency in autumn, which was claimed by the Labor candidate.
