Gareth Ward has now been taken into custody awaiting sentencing. And as our community processes that reality, something else is rising to the surface – empathy.
I’ve heard it, and maybe you have too. People expressing sadness, disbelief, or even compassion for Gareth. That’s not wrong. Empathy is a good thing. It’s part of what makes us human. But it’s also a reminder of just how brave the two young men were who came forward.
Because they would have known, from the very beginning, that this wouldn’t be easy. They would have known that people would question them. That some would defend him. That there’d be talk about his helpfulness, his advocacy, his years of public service. That others would say, “People have done worse,” or “Good people sometimes do bad things.”
They would have known that if they were part of political or professional circles, people might ask, “Well, what did they expect?” That old narrative. They should have known the culture, the risk, the way things work.
And then, of course, the most familiar kind of deflection. The kind that used to get whispered about women in short skirts. The kind that quietly implies: maybe they brought this on themselves.
We’re still hearing versions of that now.
So when I say “victims” I put that word in brackets, because I know not everyone is ready to see them that way. But let’s be honest: if they hadn’t come forward, there would be no conviction, no sentence, no reckoning. They’ve carried the weight of disbelief, delay, and public doubt and still stood up.
So yes, feel empathy. Feel conflict. But let’s also feel awe.
Because this was never going to be a clean or easy process. And those two young men had every reason to stay silent, and every reason to think they would not to be believed.
They spoke anyway.
And now we get to ask: what kind of community do we want to be in response?
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