SYDNEY, Oct 31, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - An Australian judge Friday sentenced a former state lawmaker to more than five years in jail for rape and sexual assault.

The New South Wales right-leaning politician, Gareth Ward, was convicted in July of abusing two men, aged 18 and 24, between 2013 and 2015.

The 44-year-old nevertheless refused to step down until two weeks later when members of the state parliament were about to vote to oust him.

Judge Kara Shead sentenced him at Sydney's Parramatta District Court to five years and nine months overall for the crimes: one count of rape and three of indecent assault.

She ruled that he would not be eligible for parole for three years and nine months, court documents showed.

The politician was "deliberate and predatory" in assaulting his first victim and took advantage of his second victim when he was intoxicated and "vulnerable", the judge said, according to The Australian newspaper.

Ward is expected to appeal his conviction.