Wyndham mayor steps aside after furore over reference for child sex offender

A western suburbs mayor has temporarily stepped aside from his position just eight days after being elected, after it emerged he provided a reference to a friend on child sex abuse charges.

Wyndham City’s Preet Singh wrote a character reference for Kashyap Patel in 2024, when Patel was on trial for grooming and sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl.

Singh wrote the reference in April 2024, before being elected to the council, but has faced pressure to resign since his character reference became public earlier this week.

On Wednesday morning, Singh took to social media to announce Cr Jasmine Hill was now acting mayor “to ensure the focus remains on the community and the work of council”.

“The character reference I provided was given prior to my election, I recognise that, regardless of timing, this has raised legitimate questions about judgment. For that, I am deeply sorry,” he wrote.

“I sincerely apologise for any hurt or harm caused, particularly to the victim and those in our community impacted by this issue.”

Angry residents are set to converge on Wyndham’s council offices in Werribee at 5pm on Wednesday in protest of Singh.

“I respect the right of community members to express their views, including through peaceful protest,” Singh wrote in his post.

“I am reaching out to offer to meet with those leading the demonstration, to listen and convey my sincere sympathies directly.”

Singh conceded earlier this week he had made a serious error of judgment when he provided the character reference, but said he was being subjected to an unfair “media trial”.

On Monday, Dinesh Gourisetty was forced to step down as the Liberal Party’s preselected No.1 candidate for the upper house in the Western Metropolitan region after it emerged he had also written a character reference for Patel in 2024.

Gourisetty withdrew just 24 hours after being preselected ahead of controversial incumbent Moira Deeming.

Deeming has not yet declared whether she will re-contest pre-selection for the safe upper house seat.

“He is very upset about the charges and I truly believe he is extremely sorry to the complainant for what he has done,” Gourisetty’s reference for Patel said.

In his character reference for Patel, written on April 11, 2024, Singh said his friend “is very upset about the charges, and I truly believe he is extremely regretful for what he has done”.

“Even though he has been charged, I would continue to trust Mr Kashyap Patel. He has always shown high integrity and is someone I could trust … I believe any behaviour he displayed that caused him to be charged with child grooming and sexual assault was a one-off event.”

Singh signed the reference in his capacity as a justice of the peace in Victoria.

Patel in 2024 pleaded guilty to grooming a child under 16, transmitting indecent communication to a person under 16, and sexually assaulting a child under the age of 16 in 2021. He was convicted and sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment.

Singh was elected mayor of Wyndham City Council on March 24.

He replaced Josh Gilligan, who was suspended in late February for misconduct for one month after an independent arbiter found a comment he posted on Facebook had breached council’s standards.

With Hill as acting mayor, Wyndham City has now had three mayors in 36 days.

Singh said some Wyndham City councillors had privately urged him to resign over the matter. He said he would make a statement in the coming days.

Before becoming mayor, Singh was instrumental in launching a contentious six-month trial of ratepayer-funded private security guards around the streets of Truganina, within his own council ward.

Security was initially provided by MA Services, until Wyndham cut ties with the scandal-plagued company in March, following extensive reporting by this masthead of the company’s criminal ties.

Singh also ran as the Liberal candidate for the state seat of Tarneit in the 2022 election, attracting 30 per cent of votes after distributions.

Singh did not say how long he would be standing aside as mayor.

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