A politician has been found guilty of sexually abusing two young men – including a teenager – after inviting them to his house and plying them with alcohol.
Kiama MP Gareth Ward, 44, stood trial in the NSW District Court after pleading not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent and indecent assault charges.
He was accused of inviting a drunk 18-year-old man – whom he had met a year prior – to his home on the NSW South Coast in February 2013.
The man, now in his 30s, told the jury that Ward plied him with alcoholic drinks before indecently assaulting him three times in one night, despite his attempts to resist.
Two years later, the long-time MP allegedly sexually assaulted an intoxicated political staffer after a mid-week event at NSW Parliament House in 2015.
The man, who was 24 at the time, said Ward climbed into bed with him, groped his backside, and sexually assaulted him despite him repeatedly telling him ‘no’.
After deliberating for two-and-a-half days, the jury returned a unanimous verdict of guilty on all counts on Friday.
‘Guilty,’ the jury foreperson told the court.
Gareth Ward is seen leaving the Darlinghurst Courthouse in Sydney on Friday after he was found guilty of sexually abusing two men – including a teenager
Ward will return to court later this year to be sentenced.
He had strenuously denied the allegations against him, claiming the incidents either didn’t happen or didn’t amount to sexual abuse.
But Crown prosecutor Monika Knowles said there were too many similarities between the accounts of the two complainants to be a coincidence.
They were emotionally vulnerable and had been drinking when Ward invited them over, plied them with alcohol and sexually abused them without consent while they were lying down, she said.
‘You might think what happened to (the complainants) did not happen by random chance or just dumb luck,’ Ms Knowles told the jury.
‘Similar behaviour, similar setting, same man, same conclusion. This is not a coincidence.’
The prosecution argued Ward had a tendency to act on his interest in young men less powerful than he was by committing sexual offences against them.
‘These people weren’t overtaken by force, they were taken by surprise,’ Ms Knowles told the court.
Ward (pictured) will return to court later this year to be sentenced.
Ward has held the Kiama electorate since 2011, winning three elections under the Liberal banner before securing the 2023 poll as an independent.
NSW State Opposition Leader Leader Mark Speakman said he respected the verdict and the ‘robust process’ which delivered it in a statement.
‘What any victim of sexual abuse endures is appalling and their strength in coming forward can’t be overstated,’ he said on Friday.
‘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.’
