Previous Down Under Public Figure Jailed for More Than 60 Months for Sexual Offenses
An ex- Australian politician sentenced of assaulting two victims encountered via his position received a sentence to 69 months in jail.
Trial Information
The defendant, forty-four, has been in jail since mid-year after a jury convicted him of sexually assaulting an individual and sexually abusing another, in multiple events in over two years.
The defendant acted for the oceanfront municipality of the district in the NSW government from over a decade ago. He left his position as a government official when the claims came to light in 2021 but declined to leave the legislature and won again in 2023.
Judgment Information
Judge the judicial figure evaluated the defendant's condition of legal blindness in the judgment and found "no other penalty besides detention would be suitable".
Ward, who participated via video-link at the courthouse, will undergo at minimum nearly four years in detention before he can apply for early release.
The judge said the legal system needs to "deliver a strong warning to like-minded offenders that criminal acts like these will be faced with significant consequences".
Case Background
Additionally stated the convicted man had "evaded consequences for a decade and experienced freedom absent a rehabilitation program or consequence for his crimes during that period".
Post-trial, the individual launched a failed appeal attempt to continue in parliament and stepped down moments before the members could expel him.
Defense attorneys has previously said he aims to contest the guilty verdict.
Trial Evidence
The defendant's extended court case in the judicial venue heard that he brought a inebriated young adult to his property in the first incident and attacked him on multiple occasions, despite his attempts to resist.
In 2015, he attacked a 24-year-old political staffer at his home after an event at parliament.
Ward had argued the 2015 rape was fabricated, and that the additional accuser was confused about their meeting from 2013.
The state's attorneys maintained that notable parallels in the statements of the victims, who were unacquainted with the other, proved they were being honest.
Court members debated for three days before announcing the guilty verdicts.
Ward's resignation prompted a replacement vote in Kiama in autumn, which was claimed by the opposition party.
