Thursday, September 04, 2008

Indecent assault by caregiver in Australia

A 50-year-old Tasmanian man, who pleaded guilty to three charges of indecent assault of a 10-year-old girl with autism while she was in his care, has been sentenced to two year's jail with a one year non-parole period. As reported here, the girl, who was eight years old at the time she was assaulted, was being looked after by the man while her primary care giver was at work. In sentencing the man, the Judge described the assaults as "serious breaches of trust." He said that because the offender had been abused as a child, had pleaded guilty to the charges early in the case, and had been in counselling, he would received the shortest possible sentence.