NT Supreme Court sentences Isaac Howard for sex with 15-year-old girl in Alice Springs

The past came back to haunt a Perth-based avionics tradesman after he was sentenced for sex with a minor while living in the Red Centre.

The Darwin Supreme Court. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

A tradie who once called Alice Springs home will walk free after being sentenced for having sex with a teen girl who he knew was underage.

Isaac Howard was sentenced earlier this month at Darwin Supreme Court after pleading guilty to a charge of sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 16.

NT Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Grant in handing down his sentence detailed the offending which happened at Alice Springs when Howard was aged 18.

Howard was said to have known the young victim was just 15-years-old.

Justice Grant said Howard began a “sexual relationship” that spanned three months in which “(Howard) engaged in consensual sexual intercourse on multiple occasions in various locations”.

The teenage girl told police about the intercourse in December 2022, some years after the offending had occurred, Justice Grant said.

The teenage girl came forward to police some years after the offending.

Detailing Howard’s history, Justice Grant said the defendant had been raised in a “deeply religious environment”, and had been homeschooled until he was 18.

After completing his schooling, Howard left home to gain further qualifications.

“I accept that although you were somewhat older than her, you were rather unworldly,” Justice Grant said in relation to Howard’s adolescent years.

Howard now resides in Perth – where he is expecting a baby with his wife – and works as a field technician installing and maintaining surveying equipment in the mining industry, according to Justice Grant.

Justice Grant took into account Howard’s early plea, the fact the victim “was approaching the age threshold at which conduct of this nature ceases to be criminal”, and the consensual nature of the relationship.

“(Howard) wore a condom on each occasion (he) had sexual intercourse, and the victim was a willing participant in that activity,” he said.

“There was no risk of sexually transmitted disease or unwanted pregnancy.

“There is also nothing before the court to suggest that the victim has suffered any significant adverse emotional consequences as a result of this relationship.

“While those matters do not absolve your criminal liability, they do fix the relative seriousness of the offending.”

A conviction was recorded while Justice Grant sentenced Howard to “a term of imprisonment to the rising of the court” – equating to one day in prison.