A former Northern Territory Labor government staffer will spend a minimum of two-and-a-half years in prison after he was sentenced today for sexual assaults he committed against a family member.
A Northern Territory Supreme Court jury found Kent Rowe guilty of six counts of sexual intercourse without consent in September.
Handing down the partially suspended five-year prison sentence today, Chief Justice Michael Grant told Rowe he should be ashamed of his actions and his lack of remorse.
He said Rowe had raped the victim on separate occasions over a period of years and assaulted her once while she was asleep.
The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, last month told the court there was not a "single facet" of her life unburdened by the impacts of Rowe's assaults.
Justice Grant said Rowe had since attempted to downplay and mischaracterise his actions to avoid responsibility.
"One of the consequences of lying about the nature of your conduct to your wife and your mother is that it has alienated the victim from them to at least some degree," Justice Grant said.
"You have by your lies attempted to cast yourself as the victim of the circumstances in their minds, and the victim somehow as the villain.
"It is to your great discredit, and it should be a matter of great shame to you, although I suspect it is not."
Rowe was a senior Labor staffer who previously held the roles of director of parliament, caucus liaison and stakeholder engagement until his resignation in 2021.
He was also Territory Labor's secretary and acted as campaign director for several elections.
Rowe's lawyer, Jon Tippett, KC, today said his client would consider an appeal.
"My client of course accepts that there was a jury verdict, but he doesn't accept the basis upon which the court has found that verdict," he said.
