The Member for Kiama, Gareth Ward, has today been charged with three counts of assault with act of indecency, and one count each of sexual intercourse without consent and common assault.

The charges follow an investigation by the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad into the historic alleged sexual abuse of a man and teenage boy, and have led the Premier of NSW, Dominic Perrottet to call for his resignation from Parliament.

Mr Ward, 40, resigned from the government in May last year after he revealed himself to be the subject of a criminal inquiry into sexual violence allegations. At the time, he was the Minister for Families and Communities and Disability Services. He has since sat on the crossbench.

Police will allege in court that the man indecently assaulted a 17 year old boy at Meroo Meadow in February 2013, and sexually abused a 27 year old man in Sydney in September 2015.

Mr Ward has released the following statement (shown in full):

“I have today been charged in relation to events alleged to have taken place in 2013 and 2015.

“I am completely innocent of the charges brought against me. 

“I will be instructing my lawyers to seek to bring this matter before the courts as quickly as possible and I look forward to demonstrating my innocence there. 

“While others have already attempted to prosecute my case in the media rather than the courts, out of respect for our system of justice I will not be doing the same.

“Accordingly, I will be making no further comment at this time.”

Mr Ward was granted conditional bail and will appear at Port Kembla Local Court on 18 May.

The Premier has released a statement saying:

"While Mr Ward is entitled to the presumption of innocence, as any citizen is, the standards expected of an elected Member of Parliament are not compatible with the seriousness of the charges he is facing.

"Following discussion with the Acting Premier, I have therefore attempted to contact the Kiama MP to seek his resignation from the Parliament with immediate effect.

"Should Mr Ward not resign, the Government will move a motion to remove him from the Parliament.

"I have also written to the State Director of the Liberal Party requesting that Mr Ward be suspended from the Party pending the outcome of the criminal trial against him.

"Mr Ward is entitled to defend himself against the serious charges against him but he must do that as a private citizen.

"The matter is now before the courts, and no further comment will be made."