00:00Yesterday, Qiyama MP Gareth Ward was escorted into custody after he was found guilty of
00:05sexually abusing two young men he met through his position as a politician.
00:10The disgraced MP faced Darlinghurst Court yesterday, where Judge Karasheed granted the
00:15prosecution's detention application.
00:18This verdict came after jurors heard nine weeks' worth of evidence.
00:22They took three days to deliberate, finding Ward guilty of sexual intercourse without
00:26consent, and three counts of assault with an act of indecency.
00:33So I was eye level with Ward in court yesterday and he pretty much sat emotionless as the judge
00:39handed down the decision to have him detained ahead of his sentencing.
00:43So this is standard practice where a jail sentence is inevitable after a finding of guilt and
00:48his sentencing was adjourned to 19th of September.
00:54So at the start of the trial in May, the court heard from the older victim.
00:59He said that Ward approached him after an event at Parliament House in which they both attended
01:03and had drank alcohol at.
01:06Ward offered the man, who was 24 years old at the time, a place to stay for the night at
01:10his Potts Point apartment.
01:12This is where Ward sexually assaulted him.
01:16The court also heard from the younger victim, who was 18 at the time.
01:20He told the court that Ward invited him back to his Maroo Meadow home in 2013 after Ward
01:26had worked on the gate at the Nowra show.
01:29The teenager had been drinking at a separate party that night and he told the court that
01:33he was shocked to find no one else at Ward's home upon his arrival.
01:38The court heard that Ward put his hands down the teenager's pants and later gave him an unwanted
01:43back massage.
01:45So Ward was taken to Silverwater jail in the back of a police van yesterday afternoon and
01:50he now awaits his sentencing behind bars.
01:54The maximum sentence for sexual intercourse without consent is 14 years imprisonment.
01:58But we won't know what he gets until September 19th.
02:02Despite being in jail though, Ward has not resigned and he's still a sitting member of Parliament
02:07on full pay.
02:08He's likely to be expelled when the lower house returns to Parliament next week.
02:15Speaker 3
