Previous Down Under Public Figure Jailed for More Than Half a Decade for Sex Crimes
An ex- lawmaker found guilty of attacking two victims he met through professional activities was given to five years and nine months in jail.
Trial Information
The defendant, 44, has been in jail since last summer after judicial panel convicted him of attacking one man and sexually abusing another individual, in different occasions in over two years.
Ward served the coastal town of the regional area in the state government from the year 2011. He left his position as a government cabinet member when the claims surfaced in recent years but refused to quit the legislature and was re-elected in 2023.
Sentencing Details
The presiding officer the court official considered Ward's disability of sight disability in the ruling and concluded "no different consequence except for incarceration is appropriate".
The defendant, who participated via digital means at the courthouse, will undergo at least nearly four years in custody before he can apply for conditional freedom.
Justice Shead said the court needs to "deliver a strong warning to potential criminals that sexual offendings of this nature will be subject to salutary penalties".
Further Details
The judge added the defendant had "avoided punishment for multiple years and lived freely without a treatment or penalty for his crimes during those years".
After his conviction, the individual initiated a rejected legal bid to continue in government and stepped down just prior to the members could expel him.
His legal team has stated earlier he aims to challenge the ruling.
Incident Details
Ward's lengthy proceedings in the state court heard that he asked a inebriated teenager to his property in 2013 and sexually abused him repeatedly, despite resistance attempts to fight back.
Subsequently, he sexually assaulted a 24-year-old government employee at his home after an event at parliament.
The defendant had maintained the second incident was fabricated, and that the other complainant was confused about their meeting from the earlier year.
But the prosecution argued that significant resemblances in the testimonies of the victims, who did not know one another, demonstrated they were being honest.
Court members deliberated for 72 hours before delivering the guilty verdicts.
Ward's resignation led to a special election in his constituency in autumn, which was won by the challenger.
