Ex- Down Under Lawmaker Sentenced for More Than Half a Decade for Sex Crimes
An ex- Australian politician found guilty of attacking two young men encountered via his position was given to nearly six years in jail.
Trial Information
Gareth Ward, mid-forties, was in jail since July after judicial panel found him guilty of raping one man and attacking another individual, in separate incidents in over two years.
Ward served the oceanfront municipality of the district in the New South Wales legislature from 2011. He resigned as a government minister when accusations surfaced in recent years but resisted resigning from the legislature and won again in 2023.
Sentencing Details
Judge the judicial figure evaluated his visual impairment of sight disability in the judgment and found "no alternative punishment other than imprisonment is appropriate".
Ward, who appeared via video-link at the judicial venue, will serve at no less than three years and nine months in detention before he can request conditional freedom.
The court official said the judicial system needs to "deliver a strong warning to similar individuals that criminal acts like these will be subject to serious punishments".
Case Background
The judge added the defendant had "avoided punishment for a decade and lived freely without a rehabilitation program or penalty for the offenses during that time".
Following the verdict, Ward launched a unsuccessful appeal attempt to continue in his position and left office moments before the legislature could expel him.
Representatives has stated earlier he aims to appeal the conviction.
Trial Evidence
Ward's extended court case in the state court was told that he invited a inebriated teenager to his home in 2013 and attacked him three times, despite resistance attempts to oppose.
In 2015, he attacked a young political staffer at his home after a function at the legislature.
The defendant had claimed the later assault was fabricated, and that the other complainant was inaccurate regarding their meeting from the first incident.
The state's attorneys maintained that notable parallels in the accounts of the two men, who did not know the other, showed they were being honest.
A jury deliberated for 72 hours before delivering the guilty verdicts.
His departure prompted a replacement vote in Kiama in September, which was won by the opposition party.
