Kiama MP Gareth Ward an ‘incredible local member': court

News.com.au

a day ago

A political staffer who alleges Kiama MP Gareth Ward sexually abused him has told a court that he believes the 'incredible local member' isn't a 'bad person'.
The NSW independent MP was charged in March 2022 with three counts of assault with act of indecency, an alternative charge of common assault against an 18-year-old man at Meroo Meadow in 2013, and intercourse without consent against a 24-year-old man in Potts Point in 2015.
He pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Mr Ward arrived in court on Wednesday for the third week of the criminal trial before Judge Kara Shead SC.
The complainant, who was 24 at the time of the alleged assault, took the stand in a cross-examination by defence lawyer David Campbell SC.
Mr Campbell questioned the man over his delays in making a report to police about the alleged incident.
'I didn't want this to play out in the media … there was a lot of reasons why I hadn't come forward before then,' the man said.
The alleged victim in his previous evidence told the court that he was 'concerned' that making a report to police would 'cause problems for Mr Ward'.
Mr Campbell asked the man why he was concerned if Mr Ward 'had done the things you say he had done to you'.
'These things have a habit of getting out … and I didn't want this process to be played out in the media …. I wanted it to go through the courts,' the man replied.
'But you knew you would have to make a complaint to police?' Mr Campbell pressed the man.
'I believe Mr Ward is an incredible local member … just because he did these things to me does not mean he is a bad person,' the man said.
'His electorate shouldn't pay the price'
Facebook messages between Mr Ward and the man in April 2021 were also read out in court on Wednesday in which the man apologised to Mr Ward for not 'keeping in touch' but congratulated him on his 'amazing' work.
The man said 'work wise' he had struggled to 'find anyone with a bad word to say' about Mr Ward.
'How are things down in your neck of the woods?' the man asked, before stating he would 'love to catch up'.
Mr Campbell suggested the kind messages were 'hardly the kind of utterance' you'd expect from someone who had 'previously sexually violated you'.
In Crown prosecutor Monika Knowles's re-examination on Wednesday afternoon, the man was asked how he managed to still hold respect for Mr Ward as a member of parliament yet not report him to police.
'It's a matter of hats … when you work in a field like politics you sometimes have to separate the personal from the professional which is what I believed I was doing,' the man replied.
The man said it made him 'think twice' about approaching police because Mr Ward had 'achieved a great deal for his electorate'.
'I felt … his electorate shouldn't pay the price for some mistakes … for his actions,' the man said.
He had earlier told the court that he attended an event on the night of the alleged assault at NSW Parliament House in 2015 before heading back to Mr Ward's apartment.
There, the MP poured the man a drink before allegedly attempting to kiss the man on Mr Ward's balcony, to which the political staffer pushed him away and said 'no'.
Mr Ward leaned in again a short time later and kissed the man before the 24-year-old said he wanted to go to bed, the court was told.
The Crown alleges the man was shown to his room by Mr Ward, who had allegedly stripped down to his boxers. Mr Ward allegedly put an arm over the man and his hands on the man's buttocks before he was told to stop.
Without warning, it's alleged Mr Ward digitally penetrated the man before kissing his neck and masturbating.
The two maintained a professional relationship for some time after the alleged events, the court was told.
The man made a formal statement years later to police, and Mr Ward was formally charged in March 2022.
In her opening address two weeks ago, Ms Knowles alleged that Mr Ward indecently assaulted another man, who had just turned 18, at his home on the South Coast in February 2013.
Beginning his political career in 2011, Mr Ward was a councillor on the Shoalhaven Council before becoming the Liberal member for Kiama in 2011, a seat he has held since.
The trial before a 15-person jury continues.