🔗 Share this article Ex- Down Under Politician Sentenced for More Than 60 Months for Sex Crimes The convicted individual has been imprisoned for 69 months for sexual assaults of two victims A former lawmaker sentenced of attacking two young men connected through his position received a sentence to nearly six years in detention. Case Details Gareth Ward, forty-four, remained in jail since July after a jury found him guilty of sexually assaulting one man and indecently assaulting a second person, in different occasions in over two years. The politician represented the seaside community of Kiama in the New South Wales parliament from the year 2011. He left his position as a political party official when allegations emerged in 2021 but resisted resigning from the legislature and returned to office in 2023. Sentencing Details Justice Kara Shead considered the defendant's condition of sight disability in the ruling and determined "no alternative punishment except for detention could be considered". The convicted individual, who participated via digital means at the courthouse, will complete at minimum nearly four years in custody before he can apply for parole. Justice Shead declared the court needs to "send a stern message to like-minded offenders that sexual offendings of this nature will be subject to salutary penalties". Case Background She also said the convicted man had "escaped justice for ten years and lived freely free from a rehabilitation program or punishment for the offenses during that time". Post-trial, Ward attempted a rejected court challenge to continue in his position and left office just prior to the legislature could oust him. Representatives has indicated before he plans to challenge the guilty verdict. Incident Details The defendant's extended court case in the NSW District Court heard that he asked a intoxicated teenager to his home in 2013 and attacked him on multiple occasions, despite resistance attempts to oppose. Subsequently, he attacked a 24-year-old office worker at his property after a gathering at parliament. He had maintained the second incident was fabricated, and that the first victim was inaccurate regarding their interaction from 2013. The state's attorneys argued that striking similarities in the accounts of the victims, who had no connection to one another, showed they were telling the truth. The panel deliberated for 72 hours before returning the guilty verdicts. Ward's resignation caused a by-election in Kiama in last fall, which was secured by the opposition party.