Stephen Spall, 52, was recently convicted of two counts of committing an indecent act with a child under 16.

The incidents occurred in 1995 when the then 28-year-old was living in Wodonga and working for the Department of Defence.

The victims were aged about 12 at the time.

The first girl was the daughter of a family friend, with their families often spending time together. 

The offence occurred when the victim stayed overnight at Spall’s home.

He had been drinking with a friend and put his hand down her pants and groped her.

Spall tried to apologise to the girl a few days later but she swore at him, causing him to leave.

He later told his wife he had only touched her breast.

The second girl was groped at her home in Barnawartha, causing her to “freak out” and push his hand away.

Spall told her what he had done was normal and OK.

The two victims later became friends and confided in each other about what had occurred. 

Spall was arrested and interviewed by police but denied the claims before pleading guilty in court. 

Judge Frank Gucciardo said such offending was “utterly repugnant and abhorrent behaviour which carries community consternation and causes deep, ongoing distress to victims”.

“There is no gainsaying that such reprehensible and vile conduct for sexual gratification perpetuated on children causes profound and longstanding trauma, often lifelong and invasive of all aspects of life so that the criminal gets on with life and even puts the events behind him while the victims are left to deal with the repercussions of such conduct for years,” he said.

“This offending was particularly vile as it took place in the context of family friendship, constituted severe breaches of trust of those families.”

Justice Gucciardo noted the impact the acts had had on the victims, which included a suicide attempt for one.