Ex- Down Under Public Figure Jailed for More Than 60 Months for Sexual Offenses
One-time lawmaker sentenced of attacking two victims connected through his position received a sentence to 69 months in detention.
Legal Proceedings
Gareth Ward, 44, was in jail since mid-year after judicial panel convicted him of sexually assaulting a victim and indecently assaulting a second person, in multiple events in 2013 then 2015.
The politician represented the oceanfront municipality of the regional area in the state legislature from 2011. He stepped down as a Liberal Party official when the claims surfaced in 2021 but refused to quit his seat and returned to office in 2023.
Judgment Information
Judge Kara Shead took into account his visual impairment of sight disability in her sentence and determined "no alternative punishment besides imprisonment could be considered".
Ward, who was present via video-link at Parramatta District Court, will serve at least 45 months in custody before he can request early release.
The court official said the judicial system needs to "deliver a strong warning to similar individuals that sexual offendings of this nature will be faced with salutary penalties".
Further Details
Additionally stated Ward had "escaped justice for ten years and lived freely absent a rehabilitation program or punishment for his crimes during that time".
Post-trial, Ward initiated a rejected appeal attempt to continue in parliament and left office just prior to the legislature could expel him.
Defense attorneys has previously said he intends to appeal the conviction.
Case Facts
His nine-week trial in the NSW District Court learned that he brought a intoxicated 18-year-old man to his property in 2013 and sexually abused him on multiple occasions, despite resistance attempts to resist.
In 2015, he attacked a mid-twenties government employee at his residence after a function at the legislature.
The defendant had claimed the later assault never occurred, and that the additional accuser was inaccurate regarding their interaction from 2013.
However, prosecutors contended that notable parallels in the statements of the two men, who had no connection to each other, showed they were accurate in their accounts.
The panel debated for 72 hours before delivering the findings of guilt.
The political exit prompted a by-election in the district in last fall, which was won by the opposition party.
