Former Australian Lawmaker Jailed for Over 60 Months for Sexual Offenses
A former lawmaker convicted of assaulting two individuals connected through work received a sentence to five years and nine months in jail.
Trial Information
The defendant, forty-four, was in jail since last summer after the court convicted him of attacking an individual and sexually abusing a second person, in multiple events in over two years.
The politician served the oceanfront municipality of the regional area in the New South Wales parliament from the year 2011. He left his position as a political party official when allegations surfaced in 2021 but declined to leave the legislature and was re-elected in 2023.
Court Ruling
Judge the court official considered the defendant's condition of sight disability in the ruling and found "no alternative punishment except for imprisonment would be suitable".
Ward, who appeared via video-link at the courthouse, will serve at no less than nearly four years in detention before he can seek parole.
The judge stated the court needs to "deliver a strong warning to potential criminals that illegal behaviors like these will be faced with serious punishments".
Case Background
She also said Ward had "evaded consequences for ten years and lived freely absent a rehabilitation program or consequence for his crimes during that period".
Following the verdict, Ward launched a rejected legal bid to continue in parliament and stepped down moments before the members could expel him.
Representatives has indicated before he aims to contest the guilty verdict.
Incident Details
The defendant's nine-week trial in the judicial venue heard that he asked a inebriated 18-year-old man to his residence in the first incident and indecently assaulted him on multiple occasions, despite the victim's efforts to oppose.
Two years later, he attacked a young government employee at his home after a gathering at government offices.
He had argued the 2015 rape didn't happen, and that the other complainant was inaccurate regarding their encounter from 2013.
But the prosecution contended that notable parallels in the testimonies of the individuals, who had no connection to one another, proved they were accurate in their accounts.
A jury considered for 72 hours before announcing the guilty verdicts.
The political exit led to a replacement vote in his constituency in September, which was claimed by the challenger.
