Wide Bay Burnett rapists named as sexual assaults rise 40 per cent
There have been more than 120 reports of rape or attempted rape in the Wide Bay and Burnett in the past six months after a massive increase last year. Here are the stories of 15 men convicted of rape in this region.
Police & Courts
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Reports of rape and attempted rape in the Wide Bay rose by 40 per cent in 2022 compared to the previous year, and are on track to surpass that in 2023.
In 2022, according the QPS Online Crime Maps Data, 233 reports of rape or attempted rape were made to police. In 2021, 167 cases of rape or attempted rape were reported.
From January to July 2023, 120 reports of rape or attempted rape were made.
This week (early August 2023), the Queensland Police Service released the Sexual Violence Response Strategy for 2023-2025, as an independent review found QPS was making progress in its approach to victim-centric policing.
In 2021, the first strategy of its kind for QPS was released, delivering a foundational strategic framework to enhance how officers prevent, disrupt, respond to, and investigate sexual violence – putting victims first, and holding perpetrators to account.
This strategy has so far delivered a number of positive achievements across Queensland, including the statewide roll out of the Sexual Violence Liaison Officer model and the development and delivery of key internal training and further specialist training courses.
A review into responses in each Queensland police district focused on continuous improvement was also carried out, along with the release of a community education video on reporting options.
The strategy has also seen the development of a sexual violence data dashboard to inform QPS members on trending issues and offending.
Griffith University was contracted to independently evaluate the 2021-2023 strategy in consultation with community stakeholders, including input from victim-survivor advocates.
It found progress had been made and further recommendations were provided to help enhance the QPS responses to sexual violence.
In the past 12 months, the following sexual offenders have been sentenced in Wide Bay courts.
Jason Anthony Sarich, Maryborough
Jason Anthony Sarich was convicted of forcing oral sex on a woman during an incident at a Maryborough hotel.
Sarich pleaded not guilty to one count of rape when he appeared before the Maryborough District Court on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, but was found guilty by a jury.
Crown prosecutor Farook Anoozer said in his opening statement to the jury the incident happened at a unit at the Tinana Hotel.
Mr Anoozer said Sarich had asked the woman for sex and she told him she wasn’t ready.
He then forced her to give him oral sex to the point where she “couldn’t breathe,” Mr Anoozer said.
The woman responded by biting his penis a couple of times, he said.
Sarich then screamed at her and left.
The woman later told others about the alleged incident and she was taken to police to report it.
Sarich was sentenced to three years in prison, to be suspended after serving 18 months behind bars.
Anthony John Pittorino, Hervey Bay
Hooked up to monitors in Hervey Bay Hospital’s emergency ward after being taken from the courthouse by ambulance, a masseuse accused of raping and sexually assaulting a client learned the jury’s verdict in his trial via videolink.
Anthony John Pittorino, 73, pleaded not guilty to five counts of rape and two counts of sexual assault when he appeared before Hervey Bay District Court.
But a jury returned a guilty verdict on four of the rape charges and both counts of sexual assault.
Crown prosecutor Stephanie Gallagher said in her opening statement the woman was sexually assaulted during a number of appointments she had with Pittorino.
Ms Gallagher said the woman visited Pittorino seven times and was sexually assaulted on each occasion, with allegations he touched her breasts, then in later appointments he raped her.
Pittorino was sentenced to eight years in prison with the 52 days he spent in presentence custody declared as time served.
A parole eligibility date was set for February 6, 2027.
Olajide Olusesan Ogunseye, Hervey Bay
A second jury found a Hervey Bay doctor guilty of raping his patient.
Dr Olajide Olusesan Ogunseye, 55, denied the sexual assault at his Hervey Bay business in 2018, but was found guilty by a jury and sentenced to 20 months’ imprisonment after his first trial.
In 2021, the Court of Appeal set aside the verdict and ordered a retrial, after finding that the trial judge had misdirected the jury.
Barrister Angus Edwards argued throughout the original six-day trial that the woman was not digitally raped and it was all “an awful misunderstanding”.
However, a new five-day trial was held in Brisbane District Court in November 2022, and Dr Ogunseye was again found guilty of rape.
He was sentenced to 20 months’ imprisonment, suspended for an operational period of 20 months after serving eight months, with 242 days pre-sentence custody declared as time served.
Keith Lance Ward, Maryborough
A man who drove a teenager into bushland before digitally raping her and forcing her to perform oral sex will spend the next year behind bars.
Keith Lance Ward, 41, pleaded guilty to one count of rape and one count of indecent treatment of a child under 16 when he appeared before Maryborough District Court in March 2023.
Ward picked the teenager up from her home and instead of going to his Granville home, he drove her into nearby bushland.
He pulled over there and exposed himself to her, asked her to perform a sexual act on him and then when she looked away, pushed her head down to perform that act, the court was told.
At the same time, he began digitally raping her, the court heard.
He then went into the shed at some point and asked the victim to join him to help move some boxes.
She went into the shed and he put her hand on his crotch, the court heard.
He then removed his penis from his pants and used her hand to masturbate.
Ward stopped when he saw his son coming towards the shed and started pretending to move boxes, the court heard.
Ward was sentenced to three years in prison, to be suspended after 12 months with an operational period of four years.
He was placed on 18 months probation.
Stepfather sexually abused three young sisters, Maryborough
The tearful mother of three girls who were sexually abused by her former partner confronted him in court as he was sentenced to 15 years in prison in June 2023.
The 46-year-old stepfather of the three girls, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to four counts of maintaining a relationship with a child and two counts of rape when he faced Maryborough District Court.
The sexual abuse happened regularly while the man was alone with the three girls while their mother worked, Mr Cook said.
On one occasion when one of the girls became upset, the man told her: “oh f--- off you sook. If you ever tell your mum, I’ll kill you”.
Mr Cook said the offending happened over the course of a decade, with a gap of about five years in the middle when the man and the girls’ mother broke up.
The man was sentenced to 15 years in prison and was classified as a serious violent offender, meaning he would have to serve 80 per cent of his sentence before being eligible for parole.
The 103 days he had spent in pre-sentence custody was declared as time served.
Two men guilty of child rape, Gympie
Two Gympie men pleaded guilty to shocking separate charges of child rape and other offences during the March 2023 sittings of the Gympie District Court.
One, a man in his 70s, was arraigned on charges of rape and indecent treatment of a child under the age of 16 who was of linear descent.
The court heard both offences occurred on December 23, 2021 against the same victim.
The matter was adjourned for sentencing.
A second Gympie region man in his 30s pleaded guilty to 12 charges, including taking indecent photographs and raping a child.
The man pleaded guilty in Gympie District Court on March 23, 2023 to one count of using a phone to access child abuse material, one of possessing child exploitation material, one of making child exploitation material, one of distributing child exploitation material, five counts of indecent treatment of a child and three counts of rape.
Of the five charges relating to indecent treatment, four of those occasions regarded taking indecent photographs of a girl under 12 on October 25, 2021.
On the same date, he raped the victim three times, the court heard.
It was also adjourned for sentencing.
These two matters were separate and were being dealt with separately in the court.
Man raped his sister, Gympie
A Gympie man found guilty of raping his sister 11 times was re-sentenced after the High Court threw out almost half the original convictions.
The 31-year-old, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victim, was originally found guilty of 11 counts of rape in February 2021 following a three-day trial at Gympie District Court.
In March 2023, the country’s highest court acquitted him of five of the rapes on appeal.
The published unanimous High Court judgment said this was due to the law around criminal responsibility for alleged offences committed by a child aged between 10 and 14.
Under Queensland law a child in this age bracket is not criminally responsible for an action, unless it is proved that at the time of the offence they had capacity to know not to do it.
The prosecution’s case did not specifically outline the man’s age at the time of each alleged offence, and the charges were not presented during the trial in chronological order.
This left questions as to exactly how old the man was at the time of those five counts.
Given this, the court found it was necessary for the prosecution to draw an inference the man had the capacity to understand his actions were wrong for each count which may have occurred while he was between those ages.
The prosecution tendered “insufficient evidence” to prove this beyond reasonable doubt, the court found.
This did not apply to the remaining six crimes which occurred when he was between 14 and 17 years old, and his victim aged between eight and 12.
These included raping her on separate occasions with a vibrating pen, orally, and physically, and “notwithstanding obvious resistance” from the victim and “complaints of pain”.
Justice Boddice said the man had tried to undertake sexual offender courses but was unable to until his convictions and appeals were finalised.
He has now served 838 days in custody, the majority in protection in his cell for “essentially” 24 hours due to safety concerns.
He was sentenced to five years jail, with a parole eligibility date starting at May 31, 2023.
Tristane Shane William Webb, Gympie
A “manipulative” 32-year-old mechanic who groomed and raped a young girl and waged a campaign of “terror” against his neighbours was jailed in September 2022.
Tristane Shane William Webb, from Monkland, pleaded guilty in Gympie District Court to 20 crimes committed across a period of more than a year.
He was supported by his mother, who sat in the gallery crying as the details of his offending were laid bare in a marathon sentencing hearing which ran more than three hours.
Judge Bernard Porter said Webb groomed the young girl over a prolonged period using a combination of manipulation, his “position of power”, force and persistence.
At one point, the court was told, when the girl pointed out the age difference he told her “anything above 12 is OK”.
Webb pleaded guilty to grooming, indecent treatment of a child, two counts of rape, five counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16, five counts of common assault, assault occasioning bodily harm, wilful damage, serious threatening violence, unlawful stalking with violence, two counts of threatening violence at night, and strangulation (relating to a third matter unconnected to the grooming or stalking crimes).
Webb, who had been in custody since late 2020 for breaching a nine month suspended sentence for drug charges, submitted a letter of apology to the court.
The court heard it was his first actual stint behind bars, and he had been using the time to rehabilitate himself, completing certificates in hospitality.
Judge Porter handed Webb a seven-year jail term for his latest offending, making him eligible for parole from May 1, 2023.
Geoffrey Charles Rogers, Bundaberg
A victim of a well-known Bundaberg businessman has spoken about the “overwhelming” lifelong trauma she experienced after being raped and sexually assaulted by the father of four.
Geoffrey Charles Rogers, 59, who owned the two successful companies – AustralianSeafood.com and Wizard Drilling – was sentenced in Maroochydore for the “violent” sex crimes he committed against a girl who was under 16 at the time.
Rogers had previously pleaded guilty in the Gympie District Court to 12 charges in total.
He was sentenced in Maroochydore District Court in 2022 to two counts of rape, two counts of common assault and three counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16.
Crown prosecutor Catherine Birkett said in 1998, when Rogers was 36, he sexually assaulted the victim who was 15 at the time.
He touched her breasts, digitally raped her and called her a “sl-t”.
A few days later, he took the victim on a tour of his farm before raping her, slapping her across the face and biting her breasts.
In a third incident, Rogers took the girl to an “isolated location” where he raped and sodomised her until she vomited.
The victim tendered a victim impact statement to the court which detailed how she had been “traumatised” both physically and emotionally by the attacks.
Defence Barrister Phil Hardcastle said his client was a hardworking businessman and employed 40 staff members with his drilling business.
Mr Hardcastle told the court Rogers had worked in the industries of cane farming, seafood and operating drilling rigs.
“Many people speak well of him but these matters stand in the road of that,” Mr Hardcastle said.
Judge Glen Cash described the offending as “violent” and “very serious to say the least”.
He sentenced Rogers to nine years’ prison with parole eligibility after four and a half years.
Bundaberg father guilty of rape
A Bundaberg father sexually assaulted his two daughters multiple times while they were aged between 10 and 15, including during fishing trips and driving lessons, a court has heard.
The man, who cannot be named in order to protect the identity of the victims, appeared in the dock at Bundaberg District Court where he pleaded guilty to 11 charges, including seven counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16 (lineal descendant, domestic violence offence), three counts of rape (domestic violence offence) and one count of attempted indecent treatment of a child under 16 (lineal descendant, domestic violence offence).
The court heard the man’s offending started on a fishing trip while he was alone with one of his daughters and when the girl reported the offending to her mother, she was not believed.
When the girl reported her father’s actions to the police, he denied them.
Fearing she would not be believed, she did not pursue the matter any further.
After the complaint, the man stopped offending against that daughter, but “wasn’t deterred”.
Instead, he turned his attention to abusing his other daughter.
On one occasion, the girls’ mother walked in on the defendant and the second daughter, and when asked what he was doing with her, he told her, and later the police, that he had been acting on her request to check her for “black hairs”.
Crown prosecutor Nicole Friedewald deemed it an “absurd explanation”.
Judge John Allan termed it “grossly concerning” that the man had turned his attention away from one girl and to the other after police were initially contacted.
The man received a head sentence of four years and six months jail, and will be eligible for parole from March 28, 2024.
Joshua Robert Jeffrey Miller, South Burnett
A 29-year-old South Burnett man was found guilty of multiple sex crimes against a young girl in Murgon and Goomeri over an eight-year period.
Joshua Robert Jeffrey Miller was charged with five counts of raping a child and three counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16 years of age.
He was convicted following a seven day trial at Kingaroy, with the court hearing in one instance he lured the then-six-year-old victim to his bedroom under the pretence they were going to play music.
The 29-year-old then proceeded to show the child explicit pictures and videos before making her perform oral sex.
Miller is scheduled to be sentenced in Maroochydore District Court on August 21, 2023.
Wilfred George Craig Georgetown, Murgon
A 39-year-old Murgon man was jailed for nine years for the shocking rape of a teenage girl.
Wilfred George Craig Georgetown, who had been charged with two counts of rape and one count of indecent treatment of a child under 16 with carnal knowledge, was found guilty by a jury following a three-day trial.
The rapes took place in the South Burnett when the victim was aged 14.
Prosecutor Tegan Little said Georgetown firstly touched the girl inappropriately through her clothing.
“She tried to turn around but he grabbed her,” Ms Little said.
The court heard Georgetown climbed on top of the girl and raped her.
Georgetown was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment for one offence of indecent treatment of a child under 16 with carnal knowledge, and nine years jail for two counts of rape.
He will be eligible for parole on May 22, 2024, with his 453 days in pre sentence custody deemed as time already served.
Man raped girl during game of hide and seek, Maryborough
A man who raped his girlfriend’s daughter during a game of hide and seek was sentenced to eight years in prison.
The man, aged 35, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to one count of rape, seven counts of indecent dealing and one count of attempted rape when he faced Maryborough District Court on May 29, 2023.
The court heard he had been in a relationship with the young girl’s mother and they had been living in Maryborough when the offending happened.
When the girl was 11, she was playing hide and seek at a party held by the man and her mother, the court was told.
The man joined in the game and was able to get the girl alone and rape her.
There was another incident on a later date in a shed where he tried to force her to give him oral sex but she pulled her head away, resulting in the charge of attempted rape, the court heard.
The man was given a head sentence of eight years in prison and had already spent 563 days in pre-sentence custody, the court heard.
He would become eligible for parole on May 11, 2024.
Grandfather sentenced for rape, Hervey Bay
A Fraser Coast grandfather was found guilty of raping his young granddaughter after a three-day trial in Hervey Bay District Court.
On Thursday, September 8, 2022, the man was sentenced to five years jail for maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with a child, and two years and six months jail for four counts of rape.
The 72-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded not guilty to the charges on September 6, 2022.
In her opening statement on Tuesday, crown prosecutor Elise Sargent told the court the offending took place when the girl visited her “nan and pop’s” house on the Fraser Coast.
Ms Sargent said the girl’s grandfather was her step-grandfather, but in her life, she called him “pop”.
Ms Sargent said it was during those visits that her “pop” touched her inappropriately, penetrating her genitalia, on occasions while her “nan was asleep”, and in the dark when no one was around.
She told the court there were four particular instances the girl remembered, starting from when she was seven years old.
The jury returned a guilty verdict on Thursday, September 8, 2022.
Judge Tony Moynihan QC sentenced the 72-year-old man to five years jail for maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with a child, and two years and six months jail for four counts of rape.
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