A man who was sexually assaulted from age 13 says he is shocked after his molester avoided a six-month jail term for abusing him and another teenage boy in Melbourne’s west in the late 1980s.
Convicted sex offender Richard James Gilbert, 59, of Seabrook, had his sentence reduced on appeal to 200 hours’ community service. He has been placed on the sex offender register for 15 years and must undertake a sex offenders program.
County Court judge Gabriele Cannon said she took into account Gilbert was offended against at an early age. She said he suffered from cerebral palsy, which limited his movement, and had fairly limited cognitive skills, but this did not excuse what he did.
“You pleaded guilty at an early stage which entitles you to a significant discount in the sentence you would otherwise receive as you have saved the victims the time and trauma of giving evidence and you have saved the community the expense and time of contested proceedings.”
Gilbert was 32 when he abused the first victim, then aged 13.
The victim, now aged 40, reported the abuse to police in 2012 because he wanted closure.
Speaking after the appeal, the man said: “To me, it felt like he got off scot-free. It’s a life sentence for us. We’ve got to deal with this all our lives and he got nothing: 200 hours’ community service, whoopee doo. If he’s got limited movement, how’s he been driving a truck all these years?”
Gilbert originally denied the charges but changed his plea to guilty after a second victim came forward. This man, from Maidstone, said he was contacted by police after Gilbert tried to use him for a character reference.
He then told police that he, too, had been sexually assaulted. The second victim has not been contactable since Gilbert’s sentence was reduced on appeal.
The first victim said he feared for this man’s well-being.
“The way he was crying… he was really upset, he was devastated. He’s in a worse condition than I’m in because I’ve had years and years of counselling over this. He sent me one message after the court case. He said he would talk to me within a couple of days, but I can’t get hold of him. I’ve sent him messages, Facebook messages … I just got nothing.”
