hsf.org.za/publications
A sitting New South Wales (NSW) state parliamentarian has been convicted of sexually assaulting two young men, following a high-profile trial in Australia.
Gareth Ward, who remains the member for Kiama, was found guilty by a jury on three counts of indecent assault and one count of rape. The verdict comes after a nine-week trial in the NSW District Court, where jurors deliberated for three days before reaching a unanimous decision.
The offences occurred between 2013 and 2015 and involved two victims aged 18 and 24 at the time. Both men, who met Ward through political connections, said they were assaulted at his home. One victim said that in 2013, when he was just 18 and intoxicated, Ward invited him over and indecently assaulted him three times, despite his protests.
The second victim, a political staffer, said Ward raped him in 2015 following a parliamentary event.
Ward, now 44, had stepped down as a minister and quit the Liberal Party in 2021 when the allegations surfaced, but he declined to resign from parliament. Despite the serious accusations, he successfully ran for re-election as an independent in 2023, continuing to serve as the MP for Kiama.
During the trial, Ward denied the 2015 rape allegation outright and claimed that the earlier incident had been misremembered by the complainant. However, Crown Prosecutor Monika Knowles argued that the two cases shared “striking similarities” in both context and conduct, despite the men not knowing each other.
“Similar behaviour, similar setting, same man, same conclusion. This is not a coincidence,” Knowles told the jury, according to local media reports.
Ward is due to return to court later this year for sentencing.
The NSW government had previously explored the possibility of expelling Ward from parliament, but legal advice warned such action could jeopardise the judicial process before his trial was completed. Ward has served as a state MP since 2011.
