A man aged in his 70s has pleaded quilty to serious offences against children in the 1970s.
Photo by KATRIN BOLOVTSOVA: https://www.pexels.com/photo/brown-wooden-gavel-on-brown-wooden-table-6077326/
Originally published by Central Western Daily, Court Reporter
19 November 2022
A 77-year-old man was taken to jail in Orange District Court
on Thursday for multiple child sex offences dating back to the 1970s.
Was taken to jail in Orange District Court on Thursday for
multiple child sex offences dating back to the 1970s. A court-issued non-publication order is in place preventing the identity of the man from being made public in order to
protect the identity of his victims.
On Tuesday the elderly man was placed into the dock in the courtroom of the Orange District Court to be arraigned.
“He’s been able to live his life to a relatively ripe age while his victims since the 1970s have had to deal with his interference of them.”
He pleaded guilty to eight separate offences where he molested different girls at various SW locations, including Orange, between 1971 and 1979.
The offences included committing an act of indecency on a girl aged three or four years of age, as well as assaulting other girls and committing assaults with acts of indecency on girls aged between 5 and 17-years of age.
Judge Graham Turnbull said the offending included two counts of sexual intercourse.
“This man is going to jail,” Judge Turnbull said.
“One has only got to look at two counts of penetration and one of them a five-year-old. “He’s been able to live his life to a relatively ripe age while his victims, since the 1970s, have had to deal with his interference.
Each victim’s age was not specified. Instead, age ranges were used for his female victims.
Judge Turnbull said the penalties available were those that were in place at the time of the offending and he noted that the available jail terms were much shorter than those
available for the same offences committed.
He said the man was involved in unspecified religious organisations when “a series of
children were molested by him in a serious way”.
The offences from 1976 and earlier carry a maximum jail sentence of five years while the
later offences carry maximum jail periods of six years.
Judge Graham Turnbull is leaving the Orange, Bathurst and Parkes court circuit next year before the offender is due to be sentenced in early 2023.
“I won’t be part heard in this because I won’t be here in due course, it will be going before Judge [Penny] Musgrave,” Judge Turnbull said after reading the prosecution’s summary of the offence, which was referred to as the facts.
“He’s yet to be punished and the victims are yet to be heard.”
Judge Graham Turnbull Judge Penny Musgrave was made a District Court judge in
December last year and will replace Judge Turnbull as the region’s circuit judge.
However, Judge Turnbull said after reading the facts the offending was so serious that the man will receive a full-time jail sentence and therefore must be remanded into custody after his guilty pleas were entered.
Ordinarily the man would have been taken straight to jail on Tuesday after his guilty pleas were made. However, his incarceration was delayed until Thursday due to concerns about his significant health issues, including recent blood transfusions, which led Judge Turnbull to require consultation with Justice Health about their ability to provide healthcare for the man and for a list of his medications to be supplied to the jail.
Judge Turnbull said he has previously heard cases where Justice Health has not had the
resources to meet the health needs of some individuals so “common humanity” meant this offender should not be incarcerated until his complex health needs could be catered for.
Judge Turnbull was particularly concerned after being told the jail did not have a 24-hour
nurse, although the jail did confirm that ambulances could be called outside of those
hours. He said because the jail is not near the prison hospital, it would mean the man would be taken to a civilian hospital for treatment.
“Hopefully we can have him in 24-hour care,” Judge Turnbull said. “You will be going into custody in the event where you will be cared for.”
That confirmation came on Thursday.
“Two days ago the accused, now offender, was arraigned before this court in relation to a range of serious but historic sex assault matters,” Judge Turnbull said on Thursday morning when the man again entered the dock in the courtroom before being taken to jail by custodial officers.
Sentencing will take place at a date that’s yet to be confirmed in early 2023.
The Crown prosecutor said the court case is taking place in Orange because the offence
that took place in Orange was the first to be reported.
