Bundaberg man in district court over sick abuse of girl

A former council worker has been sentenced for abusing a young girl who he threatened to shoot if she told the truth. Warning: Disturbing content.

He was the only man she knew as ‘grandad’ but it didn’t stop the former council worker from sexually assaulting the young girl in his care and threatening to shoot her if she told.

The now-sickly 71-year-old, who cannot be named, will spend time behind bars after being sentenced this week in Bundaberg District Court.

The court heard that on one occasion between 2015 and 2017, the defendant had dropped his wife off at bingo before asking the girl to kiss him.

She refused but he proceeded to inappropriately touch her then warned that if she told anyone, he would shoot her with a gun.

Later, when the girl’s grandma was in palliative care, he committed unlawful carnal knowledge on the girl who was aged 12-13 at the time.

Crown Prosecutor Erin Kelly told the court the girl had “known no one else in that role as a grandfather”.

Barrister Nick Larter said his client had no other criminal history and was suffering a number of health problems.

In sentencing, Judge Katherine McGinness said the offending was “extremely serious”.

The man pleaded guilty to one count of unlawfully and indecently dealing with a child under 16 in his care and one count of unlawful carnal knowledge of a child under 16 in his care.

For the first count, he was sentenced to 12 months in jail.

For the second count, he was sentenced to two years in jail.

These sentences are to be served concurrently, with six months to be spent as actual jail time before being suspended with an operational period of three years hanging over his head.