An aide to former federal MP Craig Kelly has been spared jail despite cynically abusing his power to inappropriately touch much younger women.
Frank Zumbo still clings to the “delusional” belief that the women were pursuing him for political reasons when they ended their pattern of criminal behaviour, a court was told.
He pressured the young women, who were seeking to advance their careers, into kissing and hugging, exposing himself to one of them and having a “rule” about when they could communicate with each other.
He was found guilty in February of indecent assaults at various locations in Sydney between 2014 and 2018.
An aide to former federal MP Craig Kelly has been spared jail despite cynically abusing his power to inappropriately touch much younger women (pictured, Frank Zumbo).
Frank Zumbo (pictured) still maintains a “delusional” belief that the women were pursuing him for political reasons when they ended their pattern of criminal behaviour, a court has been told.
There was a clear power imbalance between Zumbo and the girls, magistrate Gareth Christofi said during his sentencing at Downing Center Local Court on Friday.
“This was not an isolated error of judgment, but a pattern of ongoing criminal conduct,” the magistrate said.
Christofi sentenced Zumbo to a two-year intensive correctional order, allowing him to avoid jail to complete 300 hours of community service.
The four women were between 19 and 24 years old at the time of the crime, while Zumbo was more than twice that age.
As an assistant to Mr Kelly, who was the then Liberal MP for Hughes’ southern Sydney seat, Zumbo was responsible for recruiting staff to work in his constituency office.
He was the most senior person in the office when Mr. Kelly was away.
The young women shared with the court their experiences of being invited to work in the office after expressing interest in politics.
Zumbo touched them inappropriately, asked them very personal questions, and became upset when they did not respond to his messages and phone calls.
“He also had a period,” Mr. Christofi said. “(The women) could not communicate with each other outside the office in his absence.”
He deliberately manipulated the girls, took advantage of their vulnerability and did so for his own sexual gratification in what the magistrate described as a cynical abuse of power.
Zumbo exposed his penis to one of the women, while other assaults involved inappropriate touching on the outside of clothing for short periods.
Zumbo (pictured in February) was sentenced to a two-year intensive correctional order, allowing him to avoid jail to complete 300 hours of community service.
Zumbo was chief of staff to One Nation’s Craig Kelly (pictured)
The magistrate noted that the context of the crime was important and that Zumbo’s abuse of power was of significant concern to the community.
The crime had caused deep and lasting harm to the women, Christofi said.
“While the various acts constituted criminal offences, it was the breach of trust that this involved that had the greatest impact and caused the greatest harm,” he said.
The court was told Zumbo attempted to minimize his behavior by attributing it to his “Italian culture” and has shown no remorse or regret.
He denies the crimes and told the author of his sentencing assessment report that the women wanted to trap him for political reasons.
“Such a belief is illusory,” Christofi said.
Zumbo did not comment as he left court.
The two-year sentence is the maximum available in the local court and for an intensive corrections order, a form of custodial sentence that comes with mandatory supervision but is served in the community.
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