Former New South Wales MP Gareth Ward has been sentenced to five years and nine months in prison for sexually abusing two young men. The sentence was handed down by Judge Kara Shead in Parramatta District Court on Friday.
Ward, 44, appeared via video link from Cessnock prison. He received a non-parole period of three years and nine months, backdated to late July 2025, meaning he could be released in April 2029. The judge noted his lack of prior criminal record and his legal blindness when granting a more lenient non-parole period.
Ward resigned as the independent member for Kiama in early August, just hours before he was to be expelled from parliament. He was found guilty in July of three counts of indecent assault and one of sexual intercourse without consent, and is appealing against the convictions. He left the Liberal party in 2021 after identifying himself as the state MP under investigation.
Judge Shead said Ward had acted in a “callous and predatory manner” and that his moral culpability was high. In one assault, he was aware the victim had voiced non-consent yet continued until he achieved sexual satisfaction. She noted the victim’s statement that his “dreams of entering politics shattered” because he felt Liberal colleagues had sided with Ward. She also said Ward had good prospects for rehabilitation, despite showing no remorse consistent with his maintained innocence.
One victim, who was just 18 at the time of the abuse in 2013, had a statement read to court. He described suffering severe mental health issues, substance abuse and alcoholism in his attempt to cope. He said he feared Ward after reading his statements in the local paper, including Ward’s assertion that there would be consequences for those who “weaponise the process”. The judge found a significant disparity in maturity, power and influence between the teenager and the politically experienced MP.
The sentencing had been delayed from Wednesday after Ward’s lawyers made an eleventh-hour bid for the sentence to reflect practices at the time of the offending. Judge Shead rejected the application, saying the loss of his political career did not amount to extra-curial punishment as it was “inevitable”. Ward, reportedly an accomplished violinist, had planned to work as a barrister after his political career.
