Former WA Nationals MP James Hayward guilty of child sex abuse

A West Australian MP has been found guilty of sexually abusing a young girl and automatically disqualified from parliament.

James Hayward at the District Court of Western Australia in Perth last week. Picture: AAP

A West Australian MP has been found guilty of sexually abusing a young girl and has automatically been disqualified from ­parliament.

A jury of six women and six men found James Hayward, 53, guilty of two counts of indecent dealing charges. He was acquitted of two other charges including the allegation he showed the child how to search for pornography online.

Hayward did not apply for bail and was remanded in custody until his sentencing hearing in October.

Hayward was an independent member of WA’s upper house after he was suspended from and then quit the Nationals WA in the wake of charges relating to indecently assaulting the girl between 2019 and 2021, when she was aged between six and eight. He had pleaded not guilty.

After more than four hours of deliberations the jury handed down their verdicts as Hayward stood silently and members of his family, including his wife, sobbed.

The court was told Hayward made the girl indecently touch him on three occasions and also instructed her on how to find explicit and sexually graphic material on the internet.

State prosecutor Sean Stocks told the court Hayward had admitted what he did in a letter emailed to his wife, which became a crucial piece of evidence.

He denied what he wrote was a confession and the WA District Court was told it was a “misguided” and “irrational” decision to protect “his family from the financial mess” he was in at the time, as his business had outstanding debts of more than $400,000.

Mr Stocks told the court that after the child’s parents went to the police and Hayward learned the allegations were going to be made against him, he wrote to his wife saying he was going to end his life.

He sent the email about a week later but added the words “which I have done” in reference to the allegations with a sad face emoji.

Opposition Leader Shane Love, leader of the Nationals WA, said the process to find a replacement for Hayward would commence shortly.

“Abuse in any form is unequivocally unacceptable,” Mr Love said. “It is expected James Hayward will be now disqualified from his position as a member of the Legislative Council representing the South West. A process will then commence to determine his replacement.”