Former Down Under Politician Jailed for Over 60 Months for Criminal Acts
One-time Australian politician convicted of attacking two individuals connected through professional activities was given to 69 months in jail.
Trial Information
Gareth Ward, 44, was in prison since mid-year after judicial panel determined his guilt of sexually assaulting a victim and attacking a second person, in different occasions in 2013 then 2015.
The defendant acted for the coastal town of the district in the New South Wales legislature from 2011. He stepped down as a political party official when allegations surfaced in 2021 but refused to quit the legislature and was re-elected in 2023.
Court Ruling
The presiding officer the judicial figure considered his visual impairment of sight disability in the ruling and determined "no alternative punishment other than incarceration is appropriate".
The defendant, who was present via remote connection at the courthouse, will undergo at minimum 45 months in detention before he can seek parole.
The judge declared the legal system needs to "deliver a strong warning to like-minded offenders that illegal behaviors like these will be met with salutary penalties".
Further Details
Additionally stated the defendant had "escaped justice for multiple years and experienced freedom free from a treatment or punishment for his actions during that time".
Following the verdict, the politician initiated a unsuccessful appeal attempt to stay in government and stepped down moments before the congress could expel him.
Defense attorneys has indicated before he aims to contest the ruling.
Trial Evidence
The defendant's extended court case in the NSW District Court learned that he invited a intoxicated young adult to his home in 2013 and attacked him three times, despite the victim's efforts to oppose.
Two years later, he sexually assaulted a mid-twenties political staffer at his home after a function at parliament.
The defendant had claimed the later assault didn't happen, and that the first victim was misremembering their encounter from the first incident.
But the prosecution argued that significant resemblances in the testimonies of the two men, who were unacquainted with each other, proved they were accurate in their accounts.
Court members deliberated for three days before announcing the guilty verdicts.
His departure caused a special election in the district in September, which was won by the opposition party.
