Ex- Australian Politician Imprisoned for More Than Five Years for Criminal Acts
A former Australian politician convicted of sexually abusing two young men encountered via his position was given to five years and nine months in detention.
Trial Information
The defendant, 44, has been in jail since July after judicial panel determined his guilt of raping a victim and attacking a second person, in different occasions in over two years.
The defendant acted for the seaside community of Kiama in the New South Wales legislature from over a decade ago. He resigned as a political party official when allegations surfaced in recent years but resisted resigning from his seat and was re-elected in last year.
Judgment Information
The presiding officer the court official evaluated the defendant's condition of sight disability in her sentence and concluded "no different consequence besides detention is appropriate".
The convicted individual, who appeared via video-link at the courthouse, will complete at minimum three years and nine months in detention before he can apply for early release.
Justice Shead said the legal system needs to "deliver a strong warning to similar individuals that criminal acts like these will be met with significant consequences".
Further Details
The judge added the convicted man had "avoided punishment for multiple years and lived freely without a programme or penalty for his actions during that time".
After his conviction, Ward initiated a failed court challenge to remain in parliament and left office moments before the congress could remove him.
Defense attorneys has stated earlier he intends to appeal the guilty verdict.
Trial Evidence
His lengthy proceedings in the NSW District Court was told that he asked a drunk 18-year-old man to his property in 2013 and indecently assaulted him repeatedly, despite resistance attempts to fight back.
Two years later, he raped a young government employee at his residence after a gathering at parliament.
Ward had argued the 2015 rape didn't happen, and that the additional accuser was inaccurate regarding their interaction from 2013.
However, prosecutors argued that notable parallels in the statements of the individuals, who had no connection to the other, showed they were accurate in their accounts.
Court members debated for 72 hours before announcing the guilty verdicts.
The political exit prompted a special election in the district in last fall, which was secured by the Labor candidate.
