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News.com.au
5 days ago
- General
- News.com.au
‘Respect for you': Email read in court in Kiama MP Gareth Ward's sexual assault trial
A parliamentary associate who alleges Kiama MP Gareth Ward sexually abused him has told a court that he still respects him 'immensely', describing him as an 'incredible local member'. Mr Ward, 43, is facing a four-week criminal trial in the Downing Centre District Court on allegations he sexually abused two young men. 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. Mr Ward arrived in court on Tuesday for the second 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 to give evidence for a fourth day. During a cross-examination by defence solicitor David Campbell SC, an email the man sent to Mr Ward in March 2019 was read to the court. In the email the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, wrote to Mr Ward to express his interest in the hope of securing a parliamentaryrole before flourishing the state independent MP with compliments. 'You know just how committed I am to this … how loyal I am to my boss, and how hard I work … and that I would give it all to make you look good,' the man's email said. The man then wrote in bold type that he would have 'no hard feelings' if Mr Ward could not find a role for him. 'Your friendship means the world to me … and my respect for you is already as high as it can be,' the email read. Mr Campbell put to the man that it was 'hardly a sentence you would use to describe a man who you allege had previously sexually violated you'. 'I disagree … this is me auditioning for a job … sometimes you overcompensate,' the man replied, adding that he had 'embellished' the email. Mr Campbell said the man had been prepared to say something 'false' in the email, referring to his description of their friendship, to which the man agreed but added that he still held professional esteem for Mr Ward. The man told the court that he still respected Mr Ward 'immensely', adding that he is an 'incredible local member'. When he quizzed the man over his conversation with another parliamentary staffer in 2019, Mr Campbell said the man had told the staffer words to the effect that then Premier Gladys Berejiklian had selected a 'rapist', Mr Ward, as the minster for children in her cabinet. The man replied that he didn't recall the conversation, but it would be 'consistent' with what he reported to police. THE ALLEGATIONS The man 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. At Mr Ward's apartment, the MP poured the man a drink before allegedly attempting to kiss him on his 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 him before allegedly 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 last week, Crown prosecutor Monika 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.
ABC News
6 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Alleged victim defends calling NSW MP Gareth Ward 'love' after alleged sexual assault
A political staffer has told a trial he was "overcompensating" when he referred to former NSW minister Gareth Ward as "love", more than a year after he was allegedly sexually assaulted by Mr Ward. The member for the NSW South Coast seat of Kiama Gareth Ward is standing trial accused of sexually abusing two men, aged 18 and 24, during two separate incidents in 2015 and 2013. Last week the court heard from the 24-year-old man who alleged he was raped by Mr Ward inside the politician's Potts Point apartment in September 2015. At the start of the second week of the trial in the NSW District Court in Sydney, defence barrister David Campbell SC cross-examined the man. He told the court about messages exchanged between the alleged victim and ward in 2016 and 2017. The court heard the complainant sent a text message to the accused in early 2017, in which he referred to the MP as "love". "Why did you use the word 'love?" Mr Campbell asked. "I often use words like 'love' and 'dear' to everyone in my circle … it's just something that I do. It's not love as in physical love," he responded. Mr Campbell told the term was a "form of endearment". "This is not the language used when feeling uncomfortable, or someone who said they had been sexually assaulted without consent," he said. The complainant responded that "they may have been words used by somebody who is overcompensating". The court heard the complainant had only brief encounters with Mr Ward following the alleged assault. The man was also asked about whether he recalled attending a party. "I don't recall," the man responded. "What I want to suggest is it's the sort of occurrence that wouldn't slip from your mind later. Do you have a problem with your memory?" Mr Campbell asked. "I don't think so, this was nine years ago," the man replied. The trial continues.
The Guardian
29-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Man allegedly raped by Gareth Ward quizzed on route he took to NSW MP's house
A political staffer has accepted he could be confused about his movements before and after he was allegedly sexually assaulted by a state MP who invited him to his house. Kiama MP Gareth Ward, 44, is on trial in the New South Wales district court after pleading not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent and indecent assault charges. The jury was told he approached a young, drunk political staffer after a mid-week event at the NSW Parliament House in 2015 and offered him a place to stay for the night. The political staffer – who cannot be named - told the jury on Thursday that taking a taxi home after the event would have incurred a fare of around $110. He said he accepted Ward's offer to stay at his Potts Point apartment, where the politician poured him drinks and allegedly tried to kiss him before climbing into bed with him. The complainant, aged 24 at the time and now in his 30s, became emotional on Wednesday while alleging Ward had groped his backside and sexually assaulted him despite him repeatedly saying 'no' and attempting to move away. The jury was shown a video of the staffer taking police officers along the routes he believed he walked with Ward on the night of the alleged sexual assault and the next morning. In the footage, he pointed out a building which he told police he was 'certain' contained Ward's apartment because of the views of Sydney Harbour. The staffer said he remembered taking two different paths when walking to and from the apartment, but conceded he couldn't be precise because he had been intoxicated on the night. Under cross-examination by Ward's barrister, he accepted he could have been confused about the way he travelled as opposed to remembering two distinct routes. The staffer told police in his initial statement in 2021 that he couldn't remember what streets they took to get to the apartment, but he said his memory had since been jogged by retracing his steps. In the video, he told police he remembered walking down steep stairs in the morning while walking back to the city with Ward. But there was no mention of the stairs in his initial police statement, the court was told. The political staffer said on Wednesday he was left feeling 'dirty' and 'confused' after the incident, and asked himself whether he had done something to invite the unwanted advances. Ward is also accused of indecently assaulting an 18-year-old in 2013 after meeting the man at a networking event on NSW's south coast a year earlier. The man claims the MP fondled his buttocks and scrotum, and gave him an unwanted back massage despite his repeated requests to stop. Ward, who was charged over the alleged assaults in 2022, contests the allegations and his lawyers are expected to address jurors later in the trial. He has held the Kiama electorate since 2011, winning three elections as a Liberal before securing the 2023 poll as an independent.
News.com.au
29-05-2025
- General
- News.com.au
Gareth Ward sexual assault trial: Kiama MP said ‘nice things' about man, court told
A political staffer who alleges Kiama MP Gareth Ward sexually abused him agrees he may have been 'confused' about the route to and from the MP's apartment on the night in question but remembers Mr Ward 'saying nice things' about him on the walk. Mr Ward, 43, is facing a four-week criminal trial in the Downing Centre District Court on allegations he sexually abused two young men. 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. In court on Thursday, the second complainant, who worked as a parliamentary staffer at the time of the alleged acts, was called for a second day to give evidence. The man, who was 24 at the time, had earlier told the court on Wednesday that he attended an event on the night of the alleged assault at NSW Parliament House back in 2015 before heading back to Mr Ward's apartment. A police walk-through of the estimated route from Parliament House in The Domain to Mr Ward's apartment in Potts Point was played for the jury on Thursday. In the video, the complainant shows the police officers what he believes 'to the best' of his memory was the route to and from Mr Ward's apartment as they walked through Potts Point. The man appears confident at a few points in the video as he shows police the route he remembered but at other points he said he was 'uncertain' and doubled-back once or twice. After the video was played, defence lawyer David Campbell SC cross-examined the complainant and questioned him about his recollection of the walk. Mr Campbell said the man told police that when he was first asked he 'just remembered walking across The Domain' but didn't share any further details. The lawyer then asked the man if he 'could well have been confused' about the way they travelled to Mr Ward's apartment, to which he agreed he may have. Mr Campbell asked the man if he was suggesting that they had taken a different route to the apartment than they did the following morning. 'To my recollection … yes,' the man told the court. The man said he was 'quite intoxicated' during the walk home but said he remembered Mr Ward singing his praises about his work. 'You couldn't have been that intoxicated if you remember him saying those things,' Mr Campbell questioned. 'You can usually remember when people say nice things about you,' the man replied. The cross-examination is expected to continue on Thursday afternoon. In court on Wednesday, crown prosecutor Monika Knowles asked the man about the event, to which he said he had drunk 'three or four glasses of white wine' and was trying to organise a cab ride home when he ran into Mr Ward. 'We had a brief conversation then he invited me over (to his office at Parliament House) for another drink … I accepted,' he said. 'He poured me a wine, and I took a seat on his couch.' The man told Mr Ward that he had to leave as he lived 'a long way away', to which the MP offered the 24-year-old to stay at his place that night, the court was told. The pair allegedly walked to Mr Ward's apartment in Potts Point, and along the way Mr Ward continued telling the man about 'how bright' his future was, the court was told Back at Mr Ward's apartment, the MP poured the man another drink before allegedly attempting to kiss him on his 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 him before allegedly kissing his neck and masturbating to completion. The 24-year-old told the court that he felt 'a bit down' and 'a little dirty and confused'. The following morning, while walking back to Parliament House, Mr Ward allegedly discussed the 24-year-old's future with him and allegedly said 'if I stick by him he'll take care of me'. 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 on Tuesday, Ms Knowles told the court that she alleges Mr Ward indecently assaulted another man, who had just turned 18, at his home on the South Coast in February 2013. Mr Ward, who remains on conditional bail, has pleaded not guilty to each of the five charges against him. He was committed for trial in August 2022; however, the trial has been delayed several times. Beginning his political career in 2011, Mr Ward was a councillor on the Shoalhaven Council before becoming the Liberal member for Kiama in 2011. He was re-elected as the MP for Kiama at the most recent state election in 2023. The trial before Judge Kara Shead SC continues.
Daily Mail
28-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Politician allegedly sexually assaulted man after event at Parliament House: 'I felt dirty and confused'
A political staffer feared reporting his alleged sexual assault by a then-state minister wouldn't be taken seriously and would hinder his career, a jury has heard. Kiama MP Gareth Ward, 44, is on trial in the NSW District Court after pleading not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent and indecent assault charges. Jurors on Wednesday heard he approached a young, drunk political staffer after a mid-week event at the NSW Parliament House in 2015 and offered him a place to stay for the night. The staffer said Ward had poured him drinks and tried to kiss him at his Potts Point apartment before climbing into bed with him. The complainant, now aged in his 30s, became emotional as he recounted moving away from Ward and telling him 'no' when the politician 'groped' his backside and sexually assaulted him. 'I at no stage said yes or gave him any indication that I was pleased with what was going on,' he said. During the painful assault, the alleged victim said he felt Ward moving next to him and heard him grunting before making a 'relieved kind of groan'. The political staffer later noticed a sticky substance on the bed and his rear. 'I felt down but also a little dirty and confused,' the complainant said. 'I recalled saying no and I was thinking 'had I not verbalised no as loudly as I should have?' He also told the court he put a hand between him and Ward when the MP tried to kissed him shortly after arriving at the unit. Two minutes after the rejection, Ward tried again and the complainant 'just went along with it' because he 'thought he just wanted a kiss and it would end there'. The morning after the alleged sexual assault, the pair walked to Parliament House together. Ward continued to praise the young man's 'bright future', the alleged victim said. 'At one stage he said if I stick by him, he'll take care of me,' he said. He told the jury he was plagued by self-doubt after the sexual assault and hadn't reported it to police because he was worried he would be humiliated. 'I didn't think it was going to be taken seriously,' he said during the emotional testimony. 'Because it wasn't rape and what I thought rape was … I didn't realise how serious it was and how much it impacted me until people started talking to me about it.' At the time of the assault, he said he didn't want to cause problems for Ward, to whom he felt a 'strange sense of obligation'. 'He was the minister responsible for child safety. Any kind of allegation like this, unless I was confident in the process, was just going to be humiliation,' the complainant told the jury. 'I just thought it was a bad night. I just thought he'd made a mistake.' He eventually reported the matter to police in 2021. The staffer explained he was also worried the sexual assault had damaged his career prospects. He said job security in politics was limited and he didn't want any pressure placed on his employer to fire him, so he had tried to pretend he wasn't upset with Ward. The jury heard he drafted an email to his superiors about the assault but he didn't send it because he didn't know who to send it to and he was concerned it would be circulated. When the staffer confided in an acquaintance, she told him he 'wasn't alone' and she knew of someone who allegedly had a similar experience with Ward. Ward is also accused of indecently assaulting an 18-year-old in 2013 after meeting the man at a networking event on NSW's south coast a year earlier. The man claims Ward fondled his buttocks and scrotum, and gave him an unwanted back massage despite his repeated requests to stop. The MP, who was charged over the alleged assaults in 2022, denies the allegations and his lawyers are expected to address jurors later in the trial. Ward has held the Kiama electorate since 2011, winning three elections as a Liberal before securing the 2023 poll as an independent. The trial continues on Thursday.
