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A former public official found guilty of assaulting two individuals encountered via professional activities received a sentence to five years and nine months in detention.

Legal Proceedings

Gareth Ward, 44, has been in prison since last summer after judicial panel convicted him of attacking one man and sexually abusing a second person, in different occasions in 2013 and 2015.

Ward represented the coastal town of the regional area in the state government from 2011. He left his position as a government cabinet member when accusations came to light in 2021 but declined to leave the legislature and was re-elected in 2023.

Judgment Information

Judge Kara Shead considered Ward's disability of sight disability in the ruling and determined "no alternative punishment other than detention is appropriate".

Ward, who appeared via remote connection at Parramatta District Court, will serve at no less than nearly four years in custody before he can seek early release.

Justice Shead said the legal system needs to "send a stern message to potential criminals that criminal acts like these will be faced with salutary penalties".

Case Background

Additionally stated Ward had "avoided punishment for a decade and lived freely without a treatment or penalty for his actions during those years".

Following the verdict, the politician initiated a unsuccessful appeal attempt to remain in government and left office shortly before the members could remove him.

Representatives has stated earlier he intends to challenge the guilty verdict.

Incident Details

Ward's extended court case in the NSW District Court learned that he asked a intoxicated young adult to his residence in 2013 and sexually abused him repeatedly, despite his attempts to resist.

Two years later, he attacked a young government employee at his home after an event at government offices.

He had claimed the later assault was fabricated, and that the first victim was confused about their interaction from the earlier year.

But the prosecution contended that striking similarities in the accounts of the two men, who were unacquainted with the other, demonstrated they were telling the truth.

Court members deliberated for multiple days before delivering the guilty verdicts.

Ward's resignation caused a by-election in Kiama in autumn, which was secured by the Labor candidate.