‘Same man, same conclusion': Australian state MP found guilty of raping, sexually assaulting 2 men 2 years apart
Gareth Ward, 44, the independent MP for Kiama in New South Wales, was convicted by a jury on Friday at the Downing Centre District Court. He was found 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.
Prosecutors said the two men did not know each other but gave very similar accounts of what happened. 'Similar behaviour, similar setting, same man, same conclusion. This is not a coincidence,' Crown prosecutor Monika Knowles told the jury, The Independent reported.
Ward denied all charges. He claimed the 2015 incident did not happen and said the 2013 incident was being misremembered by the complainant. The defence argued the allegations were false.
Earlier, the court heard that in 2013, Ward invited the teenager, who had been drinking, to his South Coast home and assaulted him three times despite his efforts to resist. In 2015, Ward raped a staff member who was intoxicated after an event at the NSW Parliament House.
Ward has been granted bail and is living at one of his two homes. A court will consider whether to detain him next Wednesday, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
He first entered the state parliament as a Liberal MP in 2011 and was made a minister after the 2019 election. He left the Liberal Party in 2021 after revealing that he was being investigated by police. He continued as an independent and was re-elected in 2023.
Mark Speakman, leader of the opposition in the NSW parliament, said he respected the jury's decision. 'What any victim of sexual abuse endures is appalling and their strength in coming forward can't be overstated,' he said, as quoted by The Independent. 'There is no excuse for the criminal behaviour which the jury has found occurred beyond reasonable doubt — a complete abuse of power which has no place anywhere, let alone by those entrusted by the public to represent them.'
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