A former New South Wales MP has been sentenced to almost six years in prison for raping a young man and sexually assaulting a teenager.
Gareth Ward, 44, jailed since July after a jury found him guilty, was sentenced on Friday in the Parramatta district court. He appeared via video link from Cessnock prison as judge Kara Shead handed down the sentence.
The former independent MP for Kiama was convicted on three counts of assault with an act of indecency against an 18-year-old man in 2013 and one count of intercourse without consent against a 24-year-old man in 2015.
Ward had denied the charges and pleaded not guilty.
The former Liberal minister was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison with a non-parole period of three years and nine months.
He was granted a reduced non-parole period due to his disability of legal blindness and absence of prior offences.
Both the survivors watched the proceedings via audiovisual link as judge Shead praised their courage. The judge accepted the younger survivor’s account and noted that Ward gave him alcohol and urged him to drink after he arrived at his house.
The court found “beyond reasonable doubt that the victim froze when the offending occurred”. The judge noted that the response was common and often misunderstood.
“Many people think that victims could or should physically resist or scream out. That is still a widely held misconception,” she added.
She said the younger survivor’s statement provided a powerful reminder to the court of the “devastating effects” of the offending.
“The courage and strength for the victim to come forward, particularly where the complaint relates to a public figure,” the judge said, “is immense and should not be underestimated.”
She added that the court needed to send a “stern message” to like-minded offenders that sexual crimes would be met with salutary penalties.
The judge said Ward had “escaped justice for a decade and enjoyed a life free from a programme or punishment for his crimes during that time”.
Ward was accused of inviting the drunk teenager to his South Coast home in February 2013 and assaulting him three times in one night despite the young man’s attempts to resist.
Two years later, Ward raped an intoxicated staffer after an event at the NSW Parliament House.
Ward claimed the rape never took place and that the other complainant was misremembering their encounter from 2013.
Ward was first elected to the state parliament as a Liberal MP in 2011 before being appointed parliamentary secretary in 2015. He went on to become the minister for families, communities and disability services after the 2019 election.
Ward resigned from both the ministry and the party in May 2021 after disclosing he was the subject of a police investigation.
He then moved to the crossbench as an independent.
Two years later, he was re-elected as the independent MP for Kiama, narrowly defeating Labor nominee Katelin McInerney.
Rape Crisis offers support for those affected by rape and sexual abuse. You can call them on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, and 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland, or visit their website at www.rapecrisis.org.uk. If you are in the US, you can call Rainn on 800-656-HOPE (4673).
