Australian MP Convicted Of Raping, Sexually Assaulting Two Men In 2-Year Gap
The prosecution noted that the testimonies of the two men, who were strangers to each other, were strikingly alike.
An Australian state MP allegedly raped a man and sexually assaulted another in two separate incidents that happened two years apart.
The 44-year-old independent MP for Kiama in New South Wales, Gareth Ward, was convicted by a jury on Friday at the Downing Centre District Court.
The court found him guilty of three counts of indecent assault against an 18-year-old man in 2013 and one count of sexual intercourse without consent involving a 24-year-old man in 2015, according to a report by The Independent.
The prosecution noted that the testimonies of the two men, who were strangers to each other, were strikingly alike. However, the defence maintained that the accusations were fabricated.
According to the report, in February 2013, the MP allegedly invited the drunk teenager to his South Coast home and assaulted him thrice in one night, despite the victim protesting.
Ward has denied that the alleged rape in 2015 occurred and contends that the second complainant is misremembering their 2013 encounter.
He has been released on conditional bail and allowed to reside at one of his two listed addresses.
As reported by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the Crown intends to apply for his detention next Wednesday.
Ward entered state parliament as a Liberal MP in 2011 and became a minister after the 2019 election. He resigned from the ministry and the Liberal Party in 2021 after revealing he was under police investigation, later serving as an independent. In 2023, he was re-elected as the independent MP for Kiama, narrowly beating Labor's Katelin McInerney.
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