Former Down Under Public Figure Jailed for Over Half a Decade for Criminal Acts
A former lawmaker found guilty of assaulting two young men he met through his position received a sentence to nearly six years in prison.
Case Details
The former official, forty-four, remained in prison since July after the court found him guilty of raping one man and attacking a second person, in different occasions in over two years.
The defendant represented the seaside community of the district in the NSW government from the year 2011. He left his position as a government official when allegations emerged in 2021 but refused to quit his seat and returned to office in 2023.
Sentencing Details
Justice Kara Shead evaluated the defendant's condition of sight disability in the judgment and concluded "no alternative punishment other than imprisonment is appropriate".
Ward, who appeared via digital means at the courthouse, will undergo at minimum three years and nine months in prison before he can apply for conditional freedom.
Justice Shead declared the court needs to "send a stern message to similar individuals that criminal acts of this nature will be subject to serious punishments".
Additional Information
She also said the convicted man had "evaded consequences for ten years and lived freely without a programme or consequence for his actions during that period".
Post-trial, Ward initiated a unsuccessful court challenge to continue in his position and left office moments before the members could remove him.
Representatives has indicated before he intends to appeal the ruling.
Incident Details
His lengthy proceedings in the NSW District Court heard that he asked a inebriated teenager to his home in the first incident and sexually abused him three times, despite the victim's efforts to resist.
Subsequently, he sexually assaulted a mid-twenties office worker at his residence after a function at parliament.
He had argued the 2015 rape never occurred, and that the other complainant was inaccurate regarding their encounter from the earlier year.
The state's attorneys contended that significant resemblances in the testimonies of the two men, who had no connection to one another, proved they were being honest.
A jury considered for three days before delivering the convictions.
Ward's resignation caused a special election in Kiama in September, which was won by the Labor candidate.
