Ex- Australian Lawmaker Imprisoned for Over Half a Decade for Criminal Acts
An ex- Australian politician sentenced of assaulting two victims he met through his position has been sentenced to nearly six years in detention.
Trial Information
The former official, mid-forties, has been in prison since last summer after judicial panel found him guilty of raping an individual and attacking another, in separate incidents in over two years.
The defendant served the oceanfront municipality of the district in the state legislature from 2011. He stepped down as a government official when allegations emerged in 2021 but refused to quit parliament and was re-elected in 2023.
Judgment Information
Judge Kara Shead considered the defendant's condition of legal blindness in the ruling and concluded "no alternative punishment except for imprisonment could be considered".
Ward, who was present via video-link at the courthouse, will undergo at minimum three years and nine months in custody before he can apply for parole.
The court official said the legal system needs to "deliver a strong warning to like-minded offenders that criminal acts such as this will be faced with serious punishments".
Further Details
Additionally stated the convicted man had "avoided punishment for a decade and experienced freedom absent a rehabilitation program or penalty for his actions during that time".
After his conviction, Ward attempted a rejected appeal attempt to continue in his position and stepped down moments before the members could expel him.
Defense attorneys has indicated before he intends to appeal the conviction.
Incident Details
His lengthy proceedings in the NSW District Court was told that he brought a intoxicated 18-year-old man to his property in the first incident and sexually abused him three times, despite his attempts to resist.
Subsequently, he sexually assaulted a mid-twenties political staffer at his property after an event at the legislature.
He had claimed the second incident didn't happen, and that the first victim was misremembering their interaction from the earlier year.
But the prosecution maintained that significant resemblances in the testimonies of the victims, who were unacquainted with the other, proved they were accurate in their accounts.
The panel debated for 72 hours before delivering the convictions.
His departure caused a special election in the district in autumn, which was won by the Labor candidate.