A District Court jury has found New South Wales MP Gareth Ward guilty of sexually abusing two young men.
The independent Kiama MP faced five charges over separate incidents involving the two men in 2013 and 2015.
Both complainants said they met Ward through political circles and were invited to his home, where the assaults took place.
The prosecution argued the accounts of the men, who did not know each other, were remarkably similar.
The defence said the claims were flawed and untrue.
The trial ran for nine weeks and featured emotional testimony and disputes over memory, motive, and consent.
Ward denied all the allegations and maintained his innocence throughout.
The Crown is seeking a detention order and has requested a change to Ward’s bail conditions.
Gareth Ward arriving at the Downing Centre District Court earlier in the trial. (AAP: Bianca De Marchi)
Days of deliberation
After retiring to deliberate at 10:25am on Wednesday, the jury sent a note to Judge Kara Shead just before 3pm telling her they had reached a stalemate and needed more time.
The jurors asked permission to resume their deliberations on Thursday.
Judge Shead agreed, reminding them they had a great deal of evidence to consider and encouraging respectful, calm discussion.
The jury returned to its deliberations on Thursday morning and returned with its decision on Friday afternoon, finding Ward guilty of three counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual intercourse without consent.
The fifth charge of common assault was not necessary once the three charges of indecent assault were decided on by the jury.
Ward was first elected to parliament in 2011 as Liberal MP.
In 2015, he was appointed parliamentary secretary and he became the minister for families, communities and disability services after the 2019 election.
Ward resigned from the ministry and the Liberal Party in May 2021 and moved to the crossbench as an independent after identifying himself as being under police investigation.
He was returned to the seat of Kiama as an independent in 2023, when he narrowly defeated Labor’s Katelin McInerney with a considerably reduced majority.