Former Australian politician jailed for more than five years for sex crimes

A former Australian politician convicted of sexually abusing two young men he met through work has been sentenced to five years and nine months in jail.

Gareth Ward, 44, has been in prison since July after a jury found him guilty of raping one man and indecently assaulting another, in separate incidents in 2013 and 2015.

Ward represented the coastal town of Kiama in the New South Wales (NSW) parliament from 2011. He resigned as a Liberal Party minister when the claims emerged in 2021 but refused to quit parliament and was re-elected in 2023.

Judge Kara Shead SC considered Ward's disability of legal blindness in her sentence and found "no other penalty other than imprisonment is appropriate".

Ward, who appeared via video-link at Parramatta District Court, will serve at least three years and nine months in prison before he can apply for parole.

Justice Shead said the court needs to "send a stern message to like-minded offenders that sexual offendings such as this will be met with salutary penalties".

She also said Ward had "escaped justice for a decade and enjoyed a life free from a programme or punishment for his crimes during that time".

Shead described his actions as "callous and predatory" and rejected arguments by Ward that his public fall from grace amounted to extra-curial punishment - disadvantages suffered by the offender but not imposed by the court - because it was "inevitable" that his crimes would attract media attention.

After his conviction in July, Ward launchd a failed legal bid to remain in parliament and resigned moments before the members could expel him.

His legal team has previously said he intends to appeal the guilty verdict.

Ward's nine-week trial in the NSW District Court heard that he invited a drunk 18-year-old man to his home in 2013 and indecently assaulted him three times, despite his attempts to resist.

Two years later, he raped a 24-year-old political staffer at his home after an event at parliament.

In a victim impact statement, the then 18-year-old described how he turned to drugs and alcohol to cope after the assault and said he suffered frequent flashbacks.

The then 24-year-old also described using alcohol as a form of self-medication and said the abuse had destroyed his dream of entering politics.

Ward had argued the 2015 rape didn't happen, and that the other complainant was misremembering their encounter from 2013.

But the prosecution argued that striking similarities in the accounts of the two men, who did not know each other, showed they were telling the truth.

A jury deliberated for three days before returning the guilty verdicts.

On Friday the judge noted that Ward had shown no remorse as he maintained his innocence but nevertheless said he had good prospects for rehabilitation.

Ward's resignation prompted a by-election in Kiama in September, which was won by the Labor candidate.