Gareth Ward returned to the NSW District Court on Friday for a sentence hearing after the former coalition MP was found guilty of sexually assaulting a political staffer in 2015 and sexually abusing a drunken 18-year-old in 2013.
Dressed in prison greens, the 44-year-old watched via video link from prison as his lawyers laid out the ways his life had fallen apart since conviction in July.
"Ward has had an enormous fall from grace," David Campbell SC told the court.
"His standing in the community is shattered, he no longer holds the public position he did, his office as a minister and politician - gone.
"By reason of his conduct, he's languishing in custody."
Ward, who is legally blind, also faced greater risks such as falls, confusion and disorientation in prison, his lawyer said.
The long-time MP - re-elected by his Kiama electorate in 2023 despite the charges hanging over his head - narrowly dodged becoming the fifth person expelled from NSW parliament in two centuries in August.
He resigned from jail an hour before a planned expulsion vote.
Prosecutors argued the former cabinet minister, first elected in 2011, faced the consequences of his actions.
"He had his political career at the time of the offences and would've been well aware that was in jeopardy," crown prosecutor Monica Knowles told the court.
Ward's first victim, whom Ward plied with drinks before indecently assaulting him three times in one night, detailed in court how he had developed "a numbness" in the intervening 12 years "dulling my ability to experience joy in life".
He had also faced flashbacks and fear, including a frightening voicemail in the weeks before the trial.
"I was fearful that Gareth would get to me before I had the chance to give evidence," he wrote in a statement read to the court.
That fear increased several weeks before the trial while the man was on a walk with his son.
Noticing a voicemail, he listened to the sound of two gunshots.
Ward's continued prominence in the NSW south coast area made the man feel targeted and reinforced his concern.
"I've been haunted by the fact I went to sleep next to Gareth," he said.
"I was assaulted by someone I trusted then unconscious next to him for a number of hours."
Ward was also found to have sexually assaulted an intoxicated political staffer after a mid-week event at NSW parliament house in 2015.Â
The then-24-year-old victim told jurors the MP climbed into bed with him, groped his backside and sexually assaulted him despite him repeatedly saying "no".
Ward faces a maximum 14-year jail term for that offence.
He pleaded not guilty at trial, claiming the incidents either didn't happen or didn't amount to sexual abuse. .
He quit as families minister in the Berejiklian government and moved to the crossbench in 2021 when reports emerged police were investigating sexual crime allegations.
His personal vote was so significant he was re-elected as an independent during the 2023 election despite being suspended from parliament.
Ward is the only non-Labor person to hold Kiama, with Katelin McInerney winning it back for the ALP on Saturday in a by-election.
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National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
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