🔗 Share this article Previous Australian Public Figure Sentenced for Over Five Years for Criminal Acts The convicted individual was imprisoned for nearly six years for sexual assaults of two individuals A former Australian politician found guilty of attacking two individuals encountered via work was given to five years and nine months in detention. Legal Proceedings The defendant, forty-four, was in custody since last summer after the court found him guilty of sexually assaulting a victim and sexually abusing another, in different occasions in 2013 and 2015. The defendant represented the coastal town of Kiama in the state legislature from over a decade ago. He stepped down as a Liberal Party official when the claims came to light in 2021 but resisted resigning from his seat and won again in last year. Judgment Information Justice Kara Shead took into account the defendant's condition of legal blindness in the ruling and determined "no alternative punishment besides imprisonment is appropriate". Ward, who was present via remote connection at the courthouse, will undergo at least three years and nine months in detention before he can apply for early release. Justice Shead said the court needs to "issue a clear statement to potential criminals that illegal behaviors like these will be met with significant consequences". Further Details The judge added the convicted man had "evaded consequences for a decade and experienced freedom without a treatment or penalty for his actions during that time". After his conviction, the politician launched a failed appeal attempt to remain in parliament and stepped down just prior to the legislature could expel him. Defense attorneys has previously said he plans to challenge the guilty verdict. Trial Evidence The defendant's nine-week trial in the NSW District Court heard that he asked a drunk 18-year-old man to his home in the first incident and indecently assaulted him three times, despite his attempts to resist. In 2015, he raped a mid-twenties office worker at his property after a function at parliament. The defendant had maintained the later assault never occurred, and that the additional accuser was confused about their interaction from the earlier year. The state's attorneys contended that striking similarities in the testimonies of the two men, who did not know one another, proved they were accurate in their accounts. The panel deliberated for three days before returning the guilty verdicts. Ward's resignation led to a by-election in Kiama in last fall, which was secured by the opposition party.