The final member of the so-called “Evil 8” child abuse ring involved in the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl has been sentenced to nine-and-a-half years in jail.
Impicciatore was finally sentenced on Monday, March 26 in the Western Australian District Court.
He was one of the six people who abused the young girl after making contact with the child’s father through online advertisements. He was invited to the victim’s home after striking up a friendship with the girl’s father through the messaging app Kik, reported the West Australian.
When Impicciatore was arrested he confessed to police but later pleaded not guilty, saying that he thought the girl was 17-years-old, according to The West Australian.
His case was delayed for more than a year when he failed to show up in court, changed lawyers, and even fled the state. He was eventually extradited back from New South Wales.
“Your actions were depraved and were entirely for your own sexual gratification,” the judge said.
The judge also said during sentencing that Impicciatore showed no remorse for his crime, failed to accept responsibility for his offending and showed no empathy for the victim.
He was the only person out of the six people to plead not guilty and therefore, his penalty was not reduced. The other offenders received sentencing discounts for guilty pleas and other factors.
His sentence of nine-and-a-half years in jail will be backdated to October 2016 and he will be eligible for parole in 2024. He was also given an additional sentence of six months in jail for breaching bail in 2017 when he fled the state.
The other five offenders who were involved in the child abuse ring received sentences ranging from three years to 12 years behind bars, reported The West Australian.
Ryan Trevor Clegg was sentenced to 12 years and nine months; former pastor David Volmer was sentenced to 10-and-a-half years; Nicholas Adam Beer was sentenced to seven years; Troy Phillip Milbourne was sentenced to five years and three months, and photographer Benjamin Simon Clarke was sentenced to three years.
Another man was also implicated in the police investigation but he was not charged with offences relating to the girl. The unnamed man was subsequently jailed for using an online chat forum to engage in sexual conversations and exchange nude photographs of other children, reported the newspaper.
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