Kent Rowe sentenced to five years behind bars after being found guilty of six counts of sexual assault

Kent Rowe, the high profile former Labor government staffer convicted of rape, has been sentenced with the judge delivering a scathing assessment of his vile actions.

A former high-profile Labor government staffer, who was found guilty of sexually assaulting a female family member on multiple occasions, has been sentenced.

The former director of parliament caucus liaison and stakeholder engagement Kent Rowe has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Rowe was found guilty of acts of sexual intercourse without consent by a Supreme Court jury on September 7.

However, his sentence will be suspended after two years and six months of imprisonment.

The victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had been repeatedly molested by Rowe.

She told the court it was so frequent the attacks had all blurred together.

One incident involved the victim waking up to find Rowe touching her.

Kent Rowe leaves his NT Supreme Court trial in Darwin on Monday, September 5.

The victim confronted Rowe on multiple occasions namely in 2014, 2018 and 2021, before going to police in 2021.

When confronted by the victim and explaining to family, Rowe said it was a case of “you show me yours and I will show you mine.”

In sentencing Chief Justice Michael Grant said Rowe “demonstrated a lack of remorse and a refusal to accept full responsibility.”

“I consider that you have very sustainably rehabilitated yourself over time and that you don’t present any risk of reoffending,” Chief Justice Grant said.

“The extent of your diversion was sexual interest in the victim, which is consistent with the fact you’ve not otherwise offended.

“There is also the continuing psychological turmoil your offending conduct has caused to the victim.

“Those consequences have been further exacerbated by the manner in which you have responded to the victim’s complaints.

“You have at all times dealt with the victim’s allegations in a calculated way and directed to neutralising the risk of her making a complaint to the police

“You had formulated a false account that you had believed would not result in the loss of your marriage or expose you to any significant criminal penalty.”

Defence lawyer Jon Tippett KC represented Kent Rowe.Picture: (A)manda Parkinson

Speaking outside of court, defence barrister Jon Tippett KC called the sentence a fair one given the guilty verdict.

“I think the sentence was a very just sentence,” Mr Tippett said.

“My client accepts there was a jury verdict, but he doesn’t accept the basis on which the court has found that verdict. However, that’s the system.”