An Indigenous elder and former Victorian Senior of the Year award recipient, Robert Eccles, has been sentenced to prison for sexually abusing a child he had mentored as a football umpire.
Eccles, 72, was found guilty in April of four charges, including committing an indecent act with a child under 16 and sexually penetrating a 16- or 17-year-old under his care. However, he was acquitted of five other charges.
The offences occurred in 2011 when Eccles, then 59, began giving full body massages to a 15-year-old junior umpire in his garage, claiming they would improve the boy’s performance. The abuse escalated when the boy turned 16.
Despite being honoured with a Victorian Senior of the Year volunteer award in 2021 for his role in local sports, Eccles was later asked by Victoria’s Minister for Ageing, Ingrid Stitt, to return the award.
Judge Chambers sentenced Eccles to a minimum of two years and 11 months behind bars before parole eligibility. Eccles maintains his innocence and has already served 67 days in custody.
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