🔗 Share this article Ex- Down Under Lawmaker Imprisoned for More Than Half a Decade for Sexual Offenses Gareth Ward has been jailed for five years and nine months for the sexual abuse of two men An ex- lawmaker found guilty of assaulting two victims encountered via work received a sentence to 69 months in detention. Legal Proceedings The former official, mid-forties, has been in custody since mid-year after a jury convicted him of raping an individual and indecently assaulting another individual, in different occasions in over two years. Ward acted for the coastal town of the regional area in the state parliament from over a decade ago. He resigned as a political party official when allegations emerged in 2021 but refused to quit parliament and returned to office in 2023. Sentencing Details The presiding officer the court official took into account his visual impairment of vision impairment in her sentence and concluded "no different consequence except for detention is appropriate". The convicted individual, who was present via remote connection at Parramatta District Court, will undergo at minimum nearly four years in custody before he can seek conditional freedom. The judge said the court needs to "issue a clear statement to like-minded offenders that illegal behaviors like these will be subject to significant consequences". Additional Information She also said Ward had "escaped justice for a decade and enjoyed a life free from a programme or penalty for his actions during that period". Post-trial, the individual launched a failed appeal attempt to remain in his position and left office shortly before the congress could oust him. Defense attorneys has previously said he intends to contest the conviction. Incident Details Ward's lengthy proceedings in the NSW District Court was told that he asked a drunk teenager to his residence in 2013 and indecently assaulted him repeatedly, despite the victim's efforts to oppose. In 2015, he sexually assaulted a young office worker at his residence after an event at the legislature. The defendant had argued the later assault was fabricated, and that the other complainant was inaccurate regarding their meeting from the earlier year. But the prosecution maintained that notable parallels in the accounts of the individuals, who had no connection to one another, demonstrated they were accurate in their accounts. Court members deliberated for three days before returning the guilty verdicts. The political exit led to a replacement vote in the district in last fall, which was won by the Labor candidate.