Former Down Under Politician Sentenced for Above Five Years for Sex Crimes
An ex- public official found guilty of assaulting two individuals connected through professional activities has been sentenced to nearly six years in jail.
Case Details
The former official, forty-four, was in jail since last summer after judicial panel found him guilty of attacking a victim and sexually abusing another, in multiple events in 2013 then 2015.
Ward represented the oceanfront municipality of Kiama in the New South Wales legislature from over a decade ago. He left his position as a political party official when accusations emerged in 2021 but declined to leave his seat and was re-elected in 2023.
Judgment Information
The presiding officer Kara Shead took into account the defendant's condition of vision impairment in her sentence and concluded "no other penalty other than incarceration is appropriate".
The convicted individual, who was present via remote connection at the courthouse, will complete at minimum nearly four years in prison before he can request parole.
Justice Shead said the legal system needs to "send a stern message to similar individuals that criminal acts such as this will be subject to significant consequences".
Additional Information
Additionally stated the defendant had "escaped justice for a decade and enjoyed a life free from a treatment or punishment for his actions during those years".
After his conviction, the politician launched a unsuccessful court challenge to stay in his position and stepped down just prior to the members could expel him.
Representatives has indicated before he aims to challenge the guilty verdict.
Case Facts
Ward's nine-week trial in the state court heard that he brought a inebriated young adult to his home in 2013 and sexually abused him three times, despite the victim's efforts to resist.
Two years later, he sexually assaulted a mid-twenties political staffer at his residence after an event at the legislature.
The defendant had claimed the later assault didn't happen, and that the first victim was misremembering their interaction from the earlier year.
The state's attorneys maintained that significant resemblances in the statements of the victims, who had no connection to the other, showed they were accurate in their accounts.
The panel debated for three days before returning the findings of guilt.
His departure caused a by-election in Kiama in autumn, which was secured by the opposition party.
