Former New South Wales Liberal MP Gareth Ward has been jailed for over five years over two rape convictions.
Ward resigned from parliament earlier this year after he convicted over the two historical charges relating to two separate incidents.
In handing down the sentence the judge described his crimes as “callous and predatory”.
Ward has been behind bars since he was convicted in July. Justice Kara Shead sentenced the 44-year-old to five years and nine months in prison, with a non-parole period of three years and nine months.
The member for Kiama was convicted of three counts of indecent assault against an 18-year-old man and one for sexual intercourse without consent against a 24-year-old man. Both offences occurred over a decade ago.
He will be behind bars for at least three years and nine months before being eligible for parole. Ward’s legal team have previously announced his intention to appeal his conviction.
Justice Shead said Ward’s offending had involved taking advantage of a power imbalance between him and his younger victims, that his victims had been intoxicated and he had been persistent in his actions that cumulated in the offences.
The first assault occurred in 2013.
Ward was accused of inviting a drunk 18-year-old man, who he had first met one year earlier, to his South Coast home where he gave the young man several more drinks. The young man said he had been sexually assaulted by Ward three times during the evening despite his attempts to resist.
Two years later Ward was accused of inviting a political staffer back to his city residence after a late night event at Parliament House. The man, who was 24 years old at the time of the incident, said Ward climbed into his bed, groped his backside and sexually assaulted him despite him saying “no”.
Ward pleaded not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent and indecent assault charges, but after two and half days of deliberation a jury found him guilty.
Ward resigned from parliament after he was convicted and parliamentary colleagues moved to have him expelled from the parliament.
