Warrant Officer Ian Duncan Harrison, a married father of two, was found guilty of 11 charges including acts of indecency, using insulting and provocative words and prejudicial conduct in court martial proceedings held at HMAS Albatross this week.

As well as formally dismissing WO Harrison from the ADF, the panel of three senior naval officers, overseen by Judge Advocate Brigadier Michael Cowen QC, sentenced him to 24 days jail, demoted him in rank to petty officer with seniority and ordered he pay a $6000 fine.

The panel heard in evidence over nine days that WO Harrison had grabbed a woman’s nipples, pinched a second on the bottom, showed another a picture of a penis on a mobile phone,  and also exposed his penis in various states of arousal on four occasions to a fourth woman while he was the Ship’s Warrant Officer, the highest of the navy’s non-commissioned officers, at Creswell at Jervis Bay, the home of the RAN’s Naval College.

The panel heard he had shown a woman a video of him having sex in what appeared to be naval office with a fellow member.

The panel also found the Harrison had called a fifth woman “a prostitute.”

The incidents happened over a period from March 2015 and July 2017 at various locations around the base.

Victim impact statements from three of the five women were read to the panel in submissions by both the prosecution and defence over possible sentencing.

One of the victims, who can't be named for legal reasons, said the incidents had changed the way she trusted people, especially people in charge and in particular men.

She said she was an emotional wreck and often had to go home from work because she suffered anxiety and was “breaking down.”

The woman said she became “hyper alert”  and had become “self conscious about her breasts” after the incident.

She said she now has trouble sleeping and some of her hair had fallen out due to stress.

Another victim described having been sexually assaulted as a child which had already led to her having respect and trust issues with males.

The panel heard the instances of being shown a picture of a penis on a mobile phone had brought back a host of painful, unpleasant memories.

The woman said she had suffered “flashbacks”.

Another victim’s impact statement said she had become nervous around the warrant officer, especially after seeing him ignore a request to stop the inappropriate behaviour.

She said when she rebuked him for a sexist comment on another occasion he called her “a prostitute”.

She said she ended up requesting transfer.

For long periods during Friday morning’s proceedings WO Harrison sat with his head in his hands, often rubbing his temples.

It was also revealed during sentencing that WO Harrison had previously been reprimanded in 2004 for sending sexualy explicit text messages to a female junior sailor on a defence force phone.

Prosecutor Squadron Leader Steven Whybrow told the panel this showed it was not WO Harrison’s first lapse.

“At that time [2004] WO Harrison said it was a ‘hard lesson learned and would be never repeated’.

Senior military officers who testified on WO Harrison’s behalf described him as a professional officer who was courteous and well respected.

They said they were surprised by the charges.

Defence lawyer Lieutenant Commander Malcolm Gracie said the incidents were out of character.

“WO Harrison has had a long and distinguished career- 40 odd years in both the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy,” he said.

“He is a career sailor who is due to retire in August this year.

“In no way are we trying to trivialise these events but they are not at the most serious level of sex offences.”

Upon delivery of the sentence, now Petty Officer Harrison was escorted from the building by naval police, before being transferred to a defence prison at Holsworthy Army Barracks.

The dismissal from service and jail term will not take effect until after an approval by the review authority.