Former Australian Public Figure Sentenced for Above Half a Decade for Sex Crimes
A former lawmaker found guilty of sexually abusing two individuals connected through his position has been sentenced to 69 months in prison.
Case Details
The former official, forty-four, has been in jail since mid-year after judicial panel convicted him of attacking an individual and attacking a second person, in different occasions in 2013 then 2015.
The defendant served the coastal town of the regional area in the New South Wales government from over a decade ago. He stepped down as a Liberal Party minister when the claims surfaced in 2021 but resisted resigning from the legislature and returned to office in 2023.
Judgment Information
Justice the judicial figure considered Ward's disability of vision impairment in her sentence and found "no alternative punishment except for imprisonment is appropriate".
The defendant, who participated via remote connection at the courthouse, will undergo at least three years and nine months in prison before he can request parole.
The court official declared the judicial system needs to "deliver a strong warning to like-minded offenders that illegal behaviors such as this will be faced with serious punishments".
Additional Information
The judge added Ward had "escaped justice for multiple years and lived freely without a treatment or consequence for his crimes during that time".
Post-trial, Ward launched a failed court challenge to continue in parliament and resigned moments before the congress could expel him.
Representatives has previously said he plans to appeal the ruling.
Trial Evidence
The defendant's extended court case in the state court heard that he brought a inebriated 18-year-old man to his residence in 2013 and attacked him repeatedly, despite the victim's efforts to oppose.
In 2015, he raped a young political staffer at his property after a gathering at parliament.
He had claimed the second incident never occurred, and that the additional accuser was misremembering their encounter from the earlier year.
The state's attorneys maintained that significant resemblances in the statements of the two men, who had no connection to each other, proved they were telling the truth.
The panel considered for three days before announcing the convictions.
His departure led to a replacement vote in the district in autumn, which was secured by the challenger.
