Former Australian Politician Imprisoned for More Than Five Years for Criminal Acts
An ex- public official found guilty of attacking two victims encountered via professional activities has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison.
Trial Information
Gareth Ward, forty-four, has been in prison since mid-year after judicial panel determined his guilt of sexually assaulting an individual and indecently assaulting a second person, in different occasions in 2013 then 2015.
Ward served the oceanfront municipality of Kiama in the NSW legislature from over a decade ago. He stepped down as a government minister when accusations surfaced in recent years but refused to quit the legislature and returned to office in 2023.
Sentencing Details
Judge the judicial figure considered his visual impairment of sight disability in the ruling and concluded "no different consequence besides incarceration would be suitable".
Ward, who participated via video-link at the judicial venue, will serve at minimum three years and nine months in detention before he can apply for early release.
The judge said the judicial system needs to "issue a clear statement to like-minded offenders that criminal acts of this nature will be subject to salutary penalties".
Further Details
Additionally stated the convicted man had "evaded consequences for a decade and lived freely absent a rehabilitation program or consequence for the offenses during those years".
Following the verdict, the politician attempted a failed appeal attempt to continue in parliament and stepped down moments before the legislature could expel him.
Representatives has previously said he plans to challenge the conviction.
Case Facts
Ward's nine-week trial in the NSW District Court learned that he asked a drunk young adult to his home in the first incident and sexually abused him on multiple occasions, despite resistance attempts to oppose.
Two years later, he raped a young political staffer at his residence after a function at parliament.
He had claimed the 2015 rape never occurred, and that the first victim was inaccurate regarding their meeting from 2013.
However, prosecutors contended that striking similarities in the testimonies of the individuals, who were unacquainted with one another, demonstrated they were accurate in their accounts.
The panel considered for multiple days before announcing the guilty verdicts.
His departure led to a replacement vote in his constituency in autumn, which was secured by the opposition party.
