Territory Labor has refused to publicly condemn the actions of former party powerbroker Kent Rowe after he was sentenced Wednesday to five years jail for the repeated rape of a female relative while she was a child, with calls for the party to explain who knew about his crimes and when.

Territory Families Minister Kate Worden said yesterday that the party does not support “racists”, but grew frustrated when asked about Labor “standing with a paedophile”, saying only that she does “not condone” the rape of a child.

Rowe served as secretary of the party for five years, and had significant influence on the internal machinations of the party for the better part of a decade, overseeing two elections in 2016 and 2020, ultimately working himself into a role as one of former chief minister Michael Gunner’s top advisers after the 2020 NT election.

He was found guilty on six counts of sexual intercourse without consent by a Supreme Court jury in September for the historical sex crimes over a span of six years and was sentenced on Wednesday to five years jail, suspended after two and a half years.

Chief Justice Michael Grant said in sentencing remarks that Rowe had expressed no remorse for his crimes and accepted no responsibility, acting in a way that should be a matter “of great shame to you although I suspect it isn’t”.

Independent MLA Robyn Lambley called on Territory Labor to condemn Rowe for his actions and alleged the party “harboured a depraved criminal” for years after knowing about his crimes.

“Questions need to (be) answered by NT Labor Members of Parliament,” Ms Lambley said on social media yesterday afternoon.

“When did individual Members find out that Rowe had been accused of these despicable crimes? Who knew what and when and what did they do about it?

“I suspect at least a few of them were fully aware of the allegations well before charges were laid and did absolutely nothing about it. Harbouring a criminal as depraved as Rowe is far, far worse than anything the CLP have ever been accused of.”

The witness list for Rowe’s trial involved Labor figures, including Deputy Chief Minister Nicole Manison’s brother, Mr Gunner’s former deputy chief of staff and brother-in-law Ryan Neve, his sister Kayla Neve Plunkett, Mr Gunner’s electorate officer Hannah MacLeod, current Labor secretary Karlee Dalton’s husband and party operative Robert Dalton, and Rowe’s wife and Darwin alderman Rebecca Want de Rowe.

However, Mr Neve and Ms MacLeod did not end up providing evidence at the trial after being scratched from the witness list.

When asked by the NT Independent at a press conference on Wednesday about Rowe, Territory Families Minister Kate Worden first attempted to claim the matter was still before the courts and that she could not comment.

After being informed that Rowe had been sentenced to five years for the rape of a child – suspended after 30 months – and that the matter was no longer before the courts, Ms Worden said only that she does “not condone the behaviour”.

“I absolutely do not condone the behaviour at all and that is justice served,” she said.

The NT News then asked Ms Worden why Labor has repeatedly claimed the CLP has supported racists, coinciding with Rowe’s multiple court appearances, and if Ms Worden would rather stand with a racist or a paedophile.

“I absolutely would stand with neither,” she said.

“You’re asking a very subjective question that shouldn’t even be asked. I find it appalling that you would ask me to choose between the two.

“Absolutely, we will not stand beside racists.”

Asked why she was standing beside a child rapist who she had worked with for two elections, Ms Worden said that “at the time, I was absolutely not aware of those matters that have come to light in the recent 12 months”.

“I absolutely [do not] condone both of those behaviours and in the case of Mr Rowe, the court has seen fit to impose a sentence upon him and that is justice served,” she said.

Last month in Parliament, Ms Lambley was ruled out of order for saying that Labor had a paedophile in their ranks, which the party said was “offensive”, despite being factually accurate.

Chief Minister Natasha Fyles declined to comment when asked yesterday why Labor has not publicly condemned Rowe’s conduct.

Her office also refused to say when she first became aware of Rowe’s rape crimes and what action she took upon learning of them.

Rowe was forced to resign by Mr Gunner last year for lying about an extra-marital affair he had with a sex worker as part of the Labor cocaine sex scandal. At the time, Mr Gunner attempted to have an MLA booted from the party for his alleged involvement in the scandal, but did not seek to have Rowe expelled from Territory Labor, despite saying he had lied about his involvement.

Justice Grant said in court that the NT Independent’s naming of Rowe for his involvement in that scandal led the victim to report her abuse to police after years of telling family and friends about the abuse she suffered.