JAIL: Ex-councillor locked up for disturbing sex crimes

A former Noosa councillor has been sentenced to jail for 'extremely disturbing' child sex abuse on a teenager he pursued.

Frank Pardon leaves Maroochydore Court. Picture: Patrick Woods

A COUNCILLOR will spend the next 18 months in jail for "extremely disturbing" sexual abuse he committed on a teenage girl.

Frank Pardon, 70, was composed and emotionless when Judge Glen Cash sentenced him to three years jail, suspended after 18 months.

He was sentenced for 10 of the 11 sexual-related offences a jury found he was guilty of committing on a 14-year-old in the 1990s.

Judge Cash said Pardon's pursuant behaviour had a huge impact on his victim.

"I observed her becoming emotional when she was recounting the details," he said.

"Offending of this kind would have had some kind of psychological impact on her."

Pardon denied every accusation of touching, kissing or oral sex during the week-long trial, but a jury found him guilty on Wednesday of maintaining a relationship with a minor and several indecent treatment charges.

He immediately lost his job as a Noosa councillor when his custodial sentence was handed down today.

Judge Cash ordered a head sentence of three years, with no early release, suspended after 18 months for an operational period of three years.

Originally published as JAIL: Ex-councillor locked up for disturbing sex crimes