Daniel Gordon Ward jailed in Townsville District Court for raping, stalking and blackmailing school girl

‘This is what women are made for’ is what a Townsville man said to a girl before he raped, stalked and blackmailed her in a disturbing set of offences. WARNING: Distressing content.

Daniel Gordon Ward jailed in Townsville District Court for raping, stalking and blackmailing school girl. Image: generic.

A 15-year-old girl met a grown man by playing video games online before the man groomed her, followed her family to Townsville and then violently raped her at his house, a court was told.

Daniel Gordon Ward appeared in Townsville District Court on Monday morning after he entered last minute pleas of guilty to the distressing set of Commonwealth and State offences that occurred between 2020 and 2022.

The court was told the 34-year-old who was living in New South Wales at the time sent the girl an Xbox console for her 15th birthday and brought her a mobile phone so she could play games in her bedroom.

It was with this phone the man would video call the girl and instruct her to commit sexual acts on herself even when at school, while he secretly recorded it and took screenshots, the commonwealth crown prosecutor Edward Coker said.

Picture: istock

He said each time the girl resisted he would make violent threats towards her, at one point saying he would have people kill her family if she didn’t oblige, the court was told.

Ward visited the girl and her family with his wife in May 2021 before moving to Townsville himself only months later – Judge Brad Farr SC queried defence barrister Ross Malcomson about the motive behind the man’s relocation.

Mr Malcomson said he was instructed by his client that the move was in relation to job prospects however this was rejected by His Honour who said it was clear he moved to be closer to the young girl.

Crown prosecutor for the state offences Monique Sheppard said Ward “imposed” himself on the family and gained their trust so much so he would pick the girl up from school.

One day he picked the girl up from school and took her back to his house where he asked her to get something from his bedroom before he followed her and raped her causing injury to her genitals.

“He was degrading, he told her to accept her fate and said ‘this is what women are made for’,” Ms Sheppard told the court.

In a bid to stop her from telling anyone, Ward blackmailed the girl with screenshots of the sexual acts he forced her to commit on herself, Ms Sheppard explained.

She also said the man had access to a Google Drive that included naked photos of the girl – with the password to access the drive being her birthday.

Ward stalked the girl for four months following the rape, where he called her 1134 times from his mobile, nine times from a pay phone, messaged her on five different platforms and left 22 voicemails which the court was told were all “threatening and abusive in nature”, the court was told.

He also went as far to impersonate police in an attempt to convince the girl she committed a crime herself, Ms Sheppard said.

‘You showed her no mercy’

The defence barrister said from the outset that he acknowledged the “seriousness” of Ward’s offending and that despite a psychologist report determining the man had PTSD he did not link the diagnosis with his offending.

Mr Malcomson said Ward was at a “medium risk” of reoffending and would enlist in a high intensity sex offender program before making any application for parole in the future.

Judge Farr said it was “obvious” the offending required jail time and said there was “paramount public interest” in promoting the protection of children.

“It’s suffice to say you terrorized this woman over an extended period of time,” he said.

“You clearly had a plan in place which you acted upon, you used your physical size to overcome her resistance, you showed no mercy towards her in any way shape or form.”

Ward pleaded guilty to rape, stalking, engaging in sexual activity with a child using a carriage service, using a carriage service for child abuse material and possessing child abuse material.

His Honour made a serious violent offence declaration against two of the state offences which ensures Ward must serve 80 per cent of that sentence before being eligible for parole.

He was sentenced to a total of 14 years and 10 months jail for both Commonwealth and State offences, and required to serve 9 years and 10 months before being eligible for parole.

His Honour declared the 889 days he spent remanded in custody as time already served.

Originally published as Daniel Gordon Ward jailed in Townsville District Court for raping, stalking and blackmailing school girl