Ex- Down Under Lawmaker Jailed for Over Half a Decade for Sex Crimes
One-time public official convicted of attacking two young men encountered via work was given to 69 months in prison.
Trial Information
The former official, mid-forties, remained in custody since last summer after judicial panel determined his guilt of raping an individual and attacking another, in multiple events in 2013 and 2015.
Ward served the oceanfront municipality of Kiama in the state legislature from the year 2011. He resigned as a government official when allegations surfaced in 2021 but resisted resigning from the legislature and returned to office in last year.
Sentencing Details
Judge the judicial figure considered the defendant's condition of vision impairment in the judgment and concluded "no different consequence besides detention would be suitable".
The defendant, who appeared via video-link at the judicial venue, will undergo at minimum nearly four years in custody before he can seek parole.
Justice Shead stated the judicial system needs to "deliver a strong warning to similar individuals that illegal behaviors like these will be faced with serious punishments".
Additional Information
She also said Ward had "avoided punishment for multiple years and enjoyed a life free from a treatment or penalty for the offenses during that time".
Post-trial, the politician attempted a failed appeal attempt to stay in his position and left office just prior to the members could oust him.
His legal team has indicated before he aims to contest the ruling.
Trial Evidence
His nine-week trial in the judicial venue was told that he invited a drunk young adult to his residence in the first incident and attacked him three times, despite resistance attempts to fight back.
Subsequently, he sexually assaulted a young office worker at his property after a function at the legislature.
He had maintained the later assault was fabricated, and that the other complainant was misremembering their meeting from 2013.
But the prosecution argued that significant resemblances in the accounts of the two men, who were unacquainted with the other, showed they were accurate in their accounts.
A jury considered for 72 hours before delivering the convictions.
Ward's resignation prompted a by-election in the district in autumn, which was secured by the opposition party.
