Ex- Down Under Lawmaker Jailed for Above Five Years for Criminal Acts
One-time Australian politician sentenced of assaulting two individuals he met through his position received a sentence to nearly six years in jail.
Case Details
Gareth Ward, forty-four, remained in jail since last summer after judicial panel determined his guilt of raping a victim and sexually abusing another individual, in multiple events in 2013 and 2015.
The defendant acted for the coastal town of the regional area in the New South Wales parliament from 2011. He left his position as a political party minister when the claims emerged in 2021 but declined to leave the legislature and was re-elected in 2023.
Court Ruling
Judge the court official evaluated his visual impairment of legal blindness in the ruling and found "no alternative punishment except for imprisonment is appropriate".
The convicted individual, who appeared via video-link at the courthouse, will serve at least 45 months in custody before he can seek parole.
Justice Shead declared the court needs to "deliver a strong warning to similar individuals that illegal behaviors like these will be faced with salutary penalties".
Case Background
Additionally stated the defendant had "evaded consequences for a decade and enjoyed a life without a treatment or punishment for his crimes during those years".
After his conviction, the individual initiated a failed legal bid to continue in government and resigned shortly before the congress could expel him.
His legal team has stated earlier he plans to appeal the conviction.
Trial Evidence
Ward's lengthy proceedings in the state court heard that he brought a drunk teenager to his residence in 2013 and attacked him three times, despite his attempts to resist.
Two years later, he raped a young political staffer at his residence after a gathering at government offices.
Ward had argued the later assault was fabricated, and that the first victim was confused about their encounter from 2013.
However, prosecutors argued that striking similarities in the statements of the victims, who did not know each other, proved they were telling the truth.
A jury debated for three days before delivering the guilty verdicts.
Ward's resignation led to a replacement vote in Kiama in autumn, which was won by the Labor candidate.