A former chief prison officer from Sydney has been sentenced to 23 years in jail for abusing his position to sexually assault female inmates over several years.
Wayne Gregory Astill shook his head at times as he faced the Downing Centre District Court on Friday, and learned he would spend at least 15 years and four months behind bars.
Astill was last year found guilty by a jury of 27 charges, which included counts of aggravated sexual and indecent assault, and admitted to another seven offences.
The court on Friday heard he sexually assaulted several inmates, one of whom was pregnant at the time while working at Dillwynia Correctional Centre near Windsor.
For sexual acts and intimate relationships the court heard were inappropriate but consensual, the 66-year-old pleaded guilty to seven counts of wilful misconduct in public office.
Astill started work at Dillwynia in 2009 before being promoted to chief in 2016, after which he continued to prey on women under his care.
Police identified several women among those he gave special treatment to, confided personal details in, groped and forced himself on, or had consensual sex with.
Some of the inappropriate relationships stretched over two years, the court heard.
Judge Gina O'Rouke said some of the assaults were opportunistic and "brazen", while others showed planning and a wilful disregard for his duty to inmates and the community.
Astill would sometimes lure women into his office under the guise of helping them organise lawyers, signing off on extended visitation times, giving them contraband or fixing their problems in the jail.
In return for his "favours", he asked or pressured the women into performing sexual acts, the court heard.
The former police officer would also approach women in common areas and attempt to touch them.
Many of the women tried to resist his advances and would later tell police the assaults felt like they lasted for a "lifetime", Judge O'Rouke said.
"His offending constituted a gross breach of trust on his behalf to the community ... and also to the inmates to whom he exploited his own rank and position for his own sexual gratification," she said.
"It must be acknowledged his offending was spread over many years and it was committed against many victims."
The court heard Astill intimidated one woman who had found out about his relationship with her friend while forcing his forearm against her throat.
"Keep [your] mouth shut and don't worry about it unless there will be consequences," the court heard he told her.
On another occasion, after sexually assaulting a pregnant woman in his office, he stared down threats she would tell her partner about the incident.
Judge O'Rourke said Astill told the woman "he was an ex-police officer and affiliated with a bikie gang" and no-one would find out about what he had done.
The judge said the offender had suffered from PTSD and major depressive disorder from his job and health battles in his private life, but did not accept those factors sparked his crimes.
She said Astill had shown no remorse or insight into his behaviour and still maintained there had been "no negative impact" on the victims.
Astill claims he was manipulated by one victim and entertained another's desire for sexual contact, the court heard.
"The offender still maintains his denial of guilt," Judge O'Rourke said.
The former prison guard was suspended in 2019 and charged by police that same year.
With time served, he will first be eligible for parole in December 2037.
