Former Australian Lawmaker Sentenced for Over 60 Months for Criminal Acts

An ex- public official convicted of attacking two victims he met through his position was given to five years and nine months in detention.

Case Details

The defendant, 44, has been in custody since last summer after the court found him guilty of sexually assaulting one man and indecently assaulting a second person, in multiple events in 2013 and 2015.

The politician acted for the oceanfront municipality of the district in the NSW government from 2011. He resigned as a government minister when the claims surfaced in 2021 but declined to leave parliament and returned to office in 2023.

Judgment Information

The presiding officer the judicial figure took into account his visual impairment of sight disability in the judgment and concluded "no different consequence besides detention is appropriate".

Ward, who was present via remote connection at the judicial venue, will complete at no less than nearly four years in detention before he can seek parole.

The court official stated the legal system needs to "issue a clear statement to similar individuals that illegal behaviors of this nature will be subject to salutary penalties".

Case Background

The judge added the defendant had "escaped justice for multiple years and lived freely absent a programme or penalty for his actions during those years".

After his conviction, the politician attempted a rejected appeal attempt to continue in parliament and left office shortly before the members could expel him.

Defense attorneys has previously said he plans to appeal the ruling.

Case Facts

Ward's nine-week trial in the state court heard that he invited a inebriated 18-year-old man to his home in 2013 and indecently assaulted him on multiple occasions, despite his attempts to fight back.

Subsequently, he sexually assaulted a young office worker at his home after an event at government offices.

Ward had maintained the 2015 rape didn't happen, and that the other complainant was inaccurate regarding their meeting from 2013.

The state's attorneys maintained that notable parallels in the testimonies of the two men, who were unacquainted with the other, showed they were accurate in their accounts.

Court members considered for three days before announcing the guilty verdicts.

The political exit prompted a replacement vote in his constituency in September, which was won by the challenger.