Former Australian Public Figure Jailed for More Than Five Years for Criminal Acts
An ex- Australian politician found guilty of sexually abusing two individuals encountered via his position received a sentence to nearly six years in prison.
Legal Proceedings
The former official, 44, was in custody since July after a jury determined his guilt of raping one man and attacking a second person, in different occasions in 2013 and 2015.
Ward served the coastal town of the district in the NSW legislature from over a decade ago. He left his position as a Liberal Party cabinet member when allegations emerged in 2021 but declined to leave his seat and won again in 2023.
Judgment Information
The presiding officer Kara Shead considered the defendant's condition of sight disability in the ruling and found "no alternative punishment other than imprisonment is appropriate".
Ward, who participated via digital means at the courthouse, will undergo at least three years and nine months in prison before he can apply for early release.
Justice Shead stated the judicial system needs to "deliver a strong warning to similar individuals that illegal behaviors like these will be met with significant consequences".
Further Details
The judge added the convicted man had "escaped justice for ten years and lived freely free from a treatment or consequence for his actions during that period".
Following the verdict, Ward launched a unsuccessful court challenge to continue in his position and resigned shortly before the congress could remove him.
His legal team has previously said he aims to appeal the ruling.
Trial Evidence
His extended court case in the state court heard that he brought a intoxicated 18-year-old man to his property in 2013 and sexually abused him on multiple occasions, despite his attempts to resist.
Subsequently, he sexually assaulted a 24-year-old political staffer at his home after an event at government offices.
The defendant had claimed the 2015 rape was fabricated, and that the first victim was misremembering their interaction from the earlier year.
But the prosecution argued that striking similarities in the testimonies of the individuals, who did not know each other, showed they were telling the truth.
The panel deliberated for 72 hours before delivering the convictions.
Ward's resignation caused a special election in his constituency in last fall, which was claimed by the opposition party.
