Former Down Under Politician Sentenced for More Than Five Years for Sexual Offenses
One-time lawmaker convicted of sexually abusing two victims encountered via work has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison.
Trial Information
The former official, forty-four, has been in custody since last summer after a jury convicted him of raping a victim and indecently assaulting another individual, in different occasions in 2013 then 2015.
The defendant served the coastal town of Kiama in the state legislature from 2011. He resigned as a political party minister when accusations emerged in 2021 but resisted resigning from parliament and returned to office in last year.
Sentencing Details
Justice Kara Shead considered the defendant's condition of sight disability in the ruling and concluded "no other penalty besides incarceration is appropriate".
The convicted individual, who appeared via remote connection at the judicial venue, will serve at minimum three years and nine months in custody before he can seek parole.
The judge declared the court needs to "issue a clear statement to potential criminals that illegal behaviors like these will be met with serious punishments".
Case Background
Additionally stated Ward had "avoided punishment for multiple years and lived freely absent a programme or punishment for his actions during that time".
After his conviction, the politician attempted a rejected appeal attempt to stay in government and left office moments before the members could remove him.
Defense attorneys has indicated before he plans to contest the ruling.
Incident Details
Ward's nine-week trial in the NSW District Court heard that he asked a inebriated 18-year-old man to his property in 2013 and indecently assaulted him three times, despite the victim's efforts to oppose.
In 2015, he sexually assaulted a mid-twenties political staffer at his property after a gathering at parliament.
The defendant had claimed the later assault didn't happen, and that the additional accuser was misremembering their encounter from the earlier year.
The state's attorneys maintained that striking similarities in the statements of the two men, who were unacquainted with each other, showed they were telling the truth.
Court members deliberated for three days before returning the guilty verdicts.
The political exit caused a special election in Kiama in last fall, which was secured by the challenger.
