A former professional cricketer remains eligible for parole despite having his jail sentence extended by nearly two years over the "tragic" sexual abuse of a boy he lured to his Lyons home and indecently assaulted.
Ian Harold King, 79, faced the ACT Supreme Court on Thursday via audio-visual link from the Alexander Maconochie Centre, where he was already serving a prison sentence of a little more than 22 years.
That term, with a non-parole period of 12 years and four months, related to the sexual abuse of 10 boys in the ACT between 1989 and 1998. King was the cricket coach of all but one of these victims.
While King became eligible for parole in November 2020, he has never applied for early release.
Late last year, yet another person King had preyed upon under the guise of cricket coaching went to police with allegations of historical sexual abuse.
King later pleaded guilty to a charge of committing an act of indecency on this victim; a boy aged 13 when the offence occurred in or around September 1998.
On Thursday, Justice Geoffrey Kennett sentenced the 79-year-old, who played first-class cricket for Queensland, to two years and seven months in jail for this crime.
The judge made the term partially concurrent with King's existing sentence, however, meaning the offender's total jail term was only increased by 23 months.
Justice Kennett also added seven months to the non-parole period, extending it to June last year.
In sentencing, the judge referred to having heard a "powerful" victim impact statement last time the matter was before the court.
Now aged in his late 30s, the victim of the September 1998 offence told the court the psychological scars left behind by King's abuse were "so ingrained and so deep that some will never fully heal".
"[The victim] eloquently described a degree of loss and harm that is tragic, albeit not unexpected given the type of offending," Justice Kennett said.
"He spoke about how he felt stripped of his innocence and something that gives people 'joy and a beautiful outlook on life'.
"He described how the offending has affected his ability to make and maintain relationships, and caused him to think the worst of new people he meets.
"It is clear the harm caused by the offending is profound, complex and long-lasting."
Justice Kennett also listed a number of factors he said made the indecent assault particularly serious.
These included the fact King had lured the victim to his home, from which the boy could not easily have escaped when he started feeling uncomfortable.
"There was a relationship of trust between the victim and the offender," the judge said.
"The offender was a professional cricket coach. The victim was an aspiring cricketer who believed the offender could assist him in becoming a better athlete."
Justice Kennett said he was also obliged to take into account the age and ill health of King, who faces the prospect of dying in prison as he awaits a cataract operation that is likely to leave him almost blind.
King can already see only out of his right eye, having lost his left one and had it replaced with a prosthetic after being viciously bashed behind bars in January 2013.
The 79-year-old's total jail term is now due to expire in May 2032.
