Ex- Australian Politician Imprisoned for More Than Half a Decade for Sex Crimes
A former lawmaker convicted of attacking two young men he met through his position has been sentenced to nearly six years in jail.
Case Details
Gareth Ward, forty-four, has been in custody since mid-year after a jury determined his guilt of raping a victim and sexually abusing another, in different occasions in over two years.
The defendant served the coastal town of Kiama in the state government from 2011. He left his position as a government minister when accusations emerged in recent years but declined to leave parliament and returned to office in 2023.
Court Ruling
Judge Kara Shead took into account the defendant's condition of sight disability in the ruling and found "no alternative punishment besides imprisonment would be suitable".
Ward, who was present via digital means at the courthouse, will complete at minimum three years and nine months in detention before he can request early release.
The court official said the judicial system needs to "deliver a strong warning to potential criminals that criminal acts like these will be subject to significant consequences".
Further Details
She also said the convicted man had "evaded consequences for a decade and lived freely absent a programme or penalty for his actions during that period".
Post-trial, the individual attempted a failed legal bid to continue in government and left office shortly before the congress could expel him.
His legal team has stated earlier he intends to contest the conviction.
Trial Evidence
His lengthy proceedings in the NSW District Court was told that he invited a inebriated young adult to his property in the first incident and sexually abused him on multiple occasions, despite resistance attempts to oppose.
In 2015, he attacked a 24-year-old office worker at his home after an event at parliament.
The defendant had argued the second incident never occurred, and that the first victim was misremembering their interaction from 2013.
The state's attorneys maintained that striking similarities in the accounts of the two men, who did not know the other, showed they were telling the truth.
Court members debated for multiple days before returning the findings of guilt.
Ward's resignation caused a by-election in Kiama in autumn, which was won by the opposition party.
