Lachlan Howard: Ballarat Karate Club teacher had sex with child student

A former Ballarat karate coach has been exposed as a predator who had a sexual relationship with an 11-year-old student.

Howard was an instructor at Ballarat Karate Club when he committed the crimes.

A Ballarat man, who is highly regarded in the community, has been exposed as a predator who had a sexual relationship with an 11-year-old student when he worked as a karate instructor.

Lachlan Jamieson Howard, 47, fronted the County Court on Thursday, having been found guilty of charges including sexual penetration of a child under 16 at trial.

Howard was an instructor at Ballarat Karate Club between 2001 and 2004, and aged between 26 and 30, when he sought out a sexual relationship with a young student.

Howard began spending time with the girl, who was aged 11 to 14 during the period of offending, when he would wait outside the Dojo with her after class for her mum to pick her up.

After her mum was late, he offered to drive her home after classes, which he then did regularly.

He told her she was pretty and complimented her karate skills before the pair began staying back after class to ‘spar’.

One evening he began asking her sexual questions, telling her she “hadn’t lived” if she hadn’t been fingered.

On the drive home he challenged her that she was “too scared” to do sexual acts,

saying, “You wouldn’t touch me on the c*ck, you wouldn’t do that, you’re chicken”.

The girl then touched his penis, with court documents explaining she wanted to prove she wasn’t a chicken and make a good impression on the older man.

He then touched her chest and crotch while driving.

Howard then began putting his hands up her top and touching her breasts between 2002 and 2004.

The sexual contact during the car rides escalated to her performing indecent acts on him, including oral sex, and him performing indecent acts on her until she pretended to climax.

One night in 2003 or 2004 he pulled his car over and told the girl, “You wouldn’t have sex with me.”

The girl put a condom she had stolen from her mum on him, and he then told her she was “chicken”.

She then got on top of him and began having sex with him, before he stopped her, saying “We shouldn’t do this, it’s too soon, this is really bad or illegal and I’ll get in a lot of trouble”.

But Howard continued to engage in other sex acts with the girl nearly every time he drove her home until the end of 2004.

When she occasionally refused he told her that she owed him and that if anyone found out about what they’d been doing he would kill her.

After 2004 the girl refused to continue sexual contact with Howard.

She reported the incidents to police in July 2016 and Howard was arrested in January 2017.

He told police their relationship wasn’t anything more than an instructor and a student.

The Scotsburn man was then found guilty of charges at trial on April 14 this year, when he was taken into custody.

On Thursday the victim told the court of the many “devastating, unfair and irreparable” effects Howard’s offending had had on her, as well as his decision to deny the crimes and make her endure a trial.

“I feel disgusted that a grown man would want to sexually pursue an 11-year-old,” she said.

The court heard Howard, a father of two, had no criminal history and had long been involved in the Ballarat community.

His lawyer told the court Howard “had a very strong sense of community” and had been the farm manager for a not-for-profit enterprise for Geelong Christian College, which funded scholarships, up until he was taken into jail.

It was heard he had donated feed to struggling farmers and had been involved with Ballarat Karate Club for decades.

Numerous character references from his family and friends were tendered to the court.

Judge Gucciardo noted Howard’s crimes were “a course of conduct” rather than separate incidents.

The matter will continue next month.