Respected Sydney netball coach Peter Albert Crawford walks free despite sexual abuse of four girls
Korfball coach who used his authority to sexually assault four girls aged 11 to 19 walks free
- Peter Albert Crawford President of the St George District Netball Association
- Prison sentence spared for sexually touching four girls over a four-year period
A former president of a district netball club has been spared prison despite abusing a position of authority by sexually assaulting four girls over four years.
Peter Albert Crawford was a highly respected netball coach and church member, who used his position of authority in the community to sexually assault girls under his care for four years.
The former chairman of the St George District Netball Association was acquitted on Friday of jail time for sexually touching four girls, with a judge ruling that the low objective seriousness of his crimes warranted parole.
Crawford, 73, was found guilty of 13 offenses against the girls aged 11 to 19.
Crawford’s position of authority over one of the victims as a coach was an aggravating factor in the seriousness of the offence, Judge Phillip Mahony told Sydney’s Downing Center District Court
The crime started in 2016 and ended in 2020 when one of his victims reported to another adult that he had touched her buttocks.
Between March and June 2019, he repeatedly touched an 11-year-old student on her clothing over her genitals while she was teaching her netball.
The touch made her feel “so scared,” she told the court.
Crawford’s position of authority over the victim as a coach was an aggravating factor in the seriousness of the offence, Judge Phillip Mahony told Downing Center District Court in Sydney.
Nevertheless, since the violations were transient, did not involve skin-to-skin contact, and did not involve planning or grooming, he found the objective severity to be below average.
The judge sentenced the former Commonwealth official to two years of community service and 150 hours of community service.
A psychologist had claimed that Crawford was at greater risk of reoffending because he showed hostility towards women in a sexist remark he made.
The court heard that he had told the psychologist that ‘they weren’t attractive after all’, as if to prove that he had not offended them.
Crawford was at low risk of recidivism, Judge Mahony said, even though he showed no remorse and no insight into his transgression.
He had no criminal record and had otherwise led an exemplary life, both in his public service career and community service, he said.
The defense argued in its submissions to the court that he was a “sensitive person” of good character.
Crawford, dressed in a dark suit and glasses, stoically stood on the dock as the judge read out his verdict.
He embraced a large contingent of family and friends gathered in the courtroom and whispered “justice half done.”
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