Post by : Rameen Ariff

Sydney, Australia — Former Australian politician Gareth Ward has been sentenced to five years and nine months in prison for sexually abusing two young men he met through his work. Ward, 44, has been in custody since July following a jury conviction for raping one man in 2015 and indecently assaulting another in 2013.

Ward represented Kiama in the New South Wales parliament from 2011 and resigned as a Liberal Party minister in 2021 after the allegations surfaced. However, he refused to leave parliament at the time and was re-elected in 2023 before finally resigning after his conviction.

Judge Kara Shead SC, taking Ward’s legal blindness into account, emphasized that “no other penalty other than imprisonment is appropriate,” ruling that Ward would serve a minimum of three years and nine months before being eligible for parole.

Describing Ward’s actions as “callous and predatory,” Justice Shead noted that he had escaped justice for a decade, enjoying a life without punishment while victims suffered profound trauma. The judge added that the court must “send a stern message to like-minded offenders that sexual offending such as this will be met with salutary penalties.”

The case revealed the devastating impact of Ward’s abuse. One victim, assaulted at 18, described turning to drugs and alcohol to cope with flashbacks, while the 24-year-old victim said the assault shattered his political ambitions.

Ward has maintained his innocence and intends to appeal the conviction, arguing that media exposure and his fall from grace amounted to extra-judicial punishment. The jury, however, found striking similarities in the independent accounts of the two men, confirming the prosecution’s case.

Ward’s resignation triggered a by-election in Kiama in September, which was won by the Labor candidate, closing a troubling chapter in the community’s political landscape.

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