‘Egregious’: Warrnambool elder and Senior of the Year sentenced for sexual abuse

The Senior of the Year Award recipient and former Koori court elder has been sentenced for sexually abusing a teen, in what the judge described as a “spectacular fall from grace”

Robert Eccles, 72, was sentenced for sexual abusing a 16-year-old. Picture: Supplied

A former Senior of the Year award recipient and Koori Court elder was sentenced to four years and eight months jail, after he was found guilty by a jury of sexual abuse of a teen under his care.

Robert Charles Eccles, 72, fronted the County Court of Victoria on Monday June 23, where Judge Amanda Chambers sentenced him on four charges, including three counts of committing an indecent act with a 16 year-old and one count of sexual penetration of a 16-year-old.

Eccles, who also goes by Locky, must also be registered as a sex offender for the remainder of his life.

Robert Eccles, 72, was sentenced for sexual abusing a 16-year-old. Picture: Supplied

The offending occurred in Warrnambool in 2012, when Eccles was 59-years-old and worked as an umpire, trainer and mentor in the region’s football league.

A jury found Eccles abused the 16-year-old victim on two separate occasions in the garage of his home while giving him “therapeutic” massages.

He was charged with nine offences and pleaded not guilty to all of them.

On April 17, a jury found Eccles guilty of four charges and not guilty of the other five.

The court heard Eccles told the victim the massages would “help him keep on top of his body” and “perform better”.

After one of the instances of abuse, the victim said Eccles remarked: “That was f***ing brilliant”.

When delivering her sentence, Judge Chambers told Eccles that “yours has been a spectacular fall from grace”.

Eccles is well-known in the state’s southwest, having been involved in junior football for decades and as a Koori Court elder in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court.

In 2021, Eccles received the Victorian Senior of the Year’s Healthy and Active Living Award.

The court heard that Minister for Ageing Ingrid Stitt sent Eccles a letter revoking the award and requesting for the trophy to be returned.

Judge Chambers said Eccles “refused to accept responsibility” for the offending and had “shown no remorse”.

“What you did was so egregious it is nonsensical to suggest you may not understand the gravity of the offending,” she said.

She described the abuse as a “breathtaking breach” of trust, and said there was no doubt it had a “profound impact on the victim”.

“He can no longer enjoy life anymore. He is numb,” she said.

Judge Chambers revealed the victim felt “dirty”, and the abuse undermined his ability to trust anyone.

She acknowledged Eccles had made “significant contributions” to the community during his life.

She also noted that Eccles’ challenging upbringing.

Judge Chambers said prison might be made difficult for Eccles by Aboriginal inmates, due to his time working in Koori court.

The maximum penalty for sexual penetration of a child aged 16 or 17 is 10 years’ imprisonment, while committing an indecent act with a child of the same age carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment.

Judge Chambers ordered a non-parole period of two years and 11 months.

Originally published as ‘Egregious’: Warrnambool elder and Senior of the Year sentenced for sexual abuse