An MP for New South Wales in Australia has been found guilty of raping a young man and sexually assaulting a teenager.
Gareth Ward, 44, the independent MP for Kiama, was convicted by a jury at the Downing Centre District Court on Friday over separate incidents involving the two men in 2013 and 2015.
The former Liberal minister had denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Ward was convicted on three counts of assault with an act of indecency against an 18-year-old man in 2013 and a count of intercourse without consent against a 24-year-old man in 2015.
He will be sentenced at a later date.
The prosecution argued the accounts of both men, who didn’t know each other, were remarkably similar, while the defence claimed the allegations were false. "Similar behaviour, similar setting, same man, same conclusion. This is not a coincidence," crown prosecutor Monika Knowles said.
The MP was accused of inviting the drunk teenager to his South Coast home in February 2013 and assaulting him three times in one night despite the young man's attempts to resist.
Two years later, Ward raped an intoxicated staffer after an event at the NSW Parliament House.
Ward claimed the 2015 rape never took place and that the other complainant was misremembering their encounter from 2013.
Ward has been granted conditional bail to reside at one of his two homes.
The Crown will make a detention application next Wednesday, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
Ward was first elected to the state parliament as a Liberal MP in 2011 before being appointed parliamentary secretary in 2015. He went on to become the minister for families, communities and disability services after the 2019 election.
Ward resigned from both the ministry and the Liberal Party in May 2021 after disclosing that he was the subject of a police investigation. He then moved to the crossbench as an independent.
Two years later, he was re-elected as the independent MP for Kiama, narrowly defeating Labor nominee Katelin McInerney.
Mark Speakman, leader of the opposition in the NSW assembly, said he would respect the verdict “and the robust process which delivered it”.
“What any victim of sexual abuse endures is appalling and their strength in coming forward can’t be overstated,” he said.
“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.”
Rape Crisis offers support for those affected by rape and sexual abuse. You can call them on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, and 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland, or visit their website at www.rapecrisis.org.uk. If you are in the US, you can call Rainn on 800-656-HOPE (4673).
