NSW State MP Gareth Ward has been found guilty of sexually abusing two young men that he met through his position as a politician, a jury has ruled.
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The MP for Kiama's criminal trial, which was scheduled to run for four weeks, officially came to a close in its ninth week at Darlinghurst District Court on Friday afternoon.
The 44-year-old independent MP sat in the dock as the jury foreperson read out the verdict of guilty to all charges.
Ward was found guilty of sexual intercourse without consent related to a 24-year-old political staffer at Potts Point following drinks at an event at Parliament House in 2015.
He has also been found guilty of three counts of indecently assaulting an 18-year-old at his home in Meroo Meadow in 2013.
Ward had pleaded not guilty to all counts and had vehemently denied the offences since being charged in March 2022.
The decision came after the jury deliberated for three days, with the trial sitting for 35 days.
Jurors did not need to reach a verdict on a fifth, alternative count of common assault related to the younger complainant.
Crown prosecutor Monika Knowles told the jury in her closing address that it was "not a coincidence" that two men who were strangers came forward to police with strikingly similar allegations.
However, defence barrister David Campbell SC argued the Crown had not discharged its burden of proving either of the two complainants' cases.
Both complainants said they met Ward through political circles and were invited to his home, where they were offered alcohol before the alleged assaults took place.
Prosecutors will now apply to have Ward's bail revoked.
The trial experienced several delays, including the flooding of the Downing Centre courthouse in mid-June which forced the trial to be relocated to Darlinghurst for its remaining weeks.
Beginning his political career in 2011, Ward was a councillor on the Shoalhaven Council before becoming the Liberal member for Kiama in 2011, a seat he has held since.
Ward resigned from the ministry and the Liberal Party and moved to the crossbench as an independent after identifying himself as being under police investigation in May 2021.
He was elected to the seat of Kiama as an independent in 2023, narrowly winning against Labor's Katelin McInerney.
