Previous Down Under Lawmaker Jailed for Over Five Years for Criminal Acts
One-time Australian politician convicted of attacking two victims he met through work received a sentence to 69 months in detention.
Trial Information
The defendant, forty-four, remained in prison since last summer after a jury found him guilty of sexually assaulting a victim and indecently assaulting another individual, in separate incidents in over two years.
The defendant acted for the oceanfront municipality of the district in the NSW legislature from over a decade ago. He stepped down as a political party minister when allegations surfaced in 2021 but declined to leave parliament and was re-elected in 2023.
Judgment Information
The presiding officer the judicial figure evaluated Ward's disability of vision impairment in the judgment and concluded "no alternative punishment other than detention is appropriate".
Ward, who was present via remote connection at Parramatta District Court, will undergo at no less than 45 months in detention before he can seek early release.
The judge declared the judicial system needs to "deliver a strong warning to potential criminals that sexual offendings such as this will be faced with significant consequences".
Case Background
Additionally stated the defendant had "evaded consequences for ten years and enjoyed a life free from a rehabilitation program or consequence for his actions during those years".
Post-trial, the individual attempted a rejected appeal attempt to stay in his position and resigned shortly before the legislature could remove him.
Representatives has stated earlier he plans to challenge the guilty verdict.
Case Facts
Ward's extended court case in the state court learned that he invited a drunk young adult to his home in 2013 and sexually abused him repeatedly, despite the victim's efforts to oppose.
Two years later, he attacked a 24-year-old political staffer at his home after a gathering at the legislature.
The defendant had maintained the 2015 rape never occurred, and that the additional accuser was misremembering their interaction from the first incident.
But the prosecution argued that striking similarities in the accounts of the individuals, who were unacquainted with the other, showed they were telling the truth.
The panel debated for multiple days before returning the guilty verdicts.
Ward's resignation caused a by-election in Kiama in autumn, which was won by the challenger.
