A former Australian politician, Gareth Ward, convicted of sexually abusing two young men, has been sentenced to five years and nine months in jail.
Due to separate incidents in 2013 and 2015, Ward had already been in prison since July after a jury found him guilty of raping one man and sexually assaulting another.
Ward represented the coastal town of Kiama in the New South Wales (NSW) parliament from 2011. He resigned as a Liberal Party minister after claims emerged in 2021 but refused to quit parliament and was re-elected in 2023.
Furthermore, the 44-year-old will serve at least three years and nine months in prison before he can apply for parole.
After his conviction in July, Ward launched a failed legal bid to remain in parliament and resigned moments before the members could expel him.
Ward's nine-week trial in the NSW District Court heard that he invited a drunk 18-year-old man to his home in 2013 and indecently assaulted him three times, despite his attempts to resist, reported BBC.
Two years later, he raped a 24-year-old political staffer at his home after an event at parliament.
Ward had vehemently denied both of the horrific incidents, but the prosecution argued that striking similarities in the accounts of the two men, who did not know each other, showed they were telling the truth.
