Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) v Baldock
[2022] VCC 2167
•2 December 2022
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT Melbourne CRIMINAL DIVISION | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
Sexual Offences List
Case No. CR-22-00626
| COMMONWEALTH DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| BRENDAN BALDOCK |
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JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE PILLAY | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF PLEA HEARING: | 21 November 2022 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 2 December 2022 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP (Cth) v Baldock | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2022] VCC 2167 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:CRIMINAL LAW
Catchwords: Sentence – child abuse materials – whether exceptional circumstances can be established – remorseful offender – no prior convictions – offender supported by family and friends – use of active voice when offending
Legislation Cited: Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth); Crimes Act 1984 (Cth); Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004 (Vic); Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic)
Cases Cited:R v Tootle ex parte AG [2012] QCA 273; Rogerson v R; McNamara v R [2021] NSWCAA 160; Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) v D'Alessandro [2010] VSCA 60; Worboyes v R [2021] VSCA 169
Sentence: 3 years’ imprisonment with a release after 6 months on a Recognizance Release Order.
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions | Mr E Diwell | Solicitor for the Commonwealth Office of Public Prosecution |
| For the Offender | Mr R De Vietri | Gallant Law |
HIS HONOUR:
1 Brendan Baldock, you have pleaded guilty to seven charges and they are, in summary form:
(a) using a carriage service to access child pornography material contrary to s474.19(1) of the Criminal Code 1995 ꟷ one charge;
(b) using a carriage service to make available and/or promote and/or access and/or transmit to yourself, and others, child abuse material (defined as “CAM”) contrary to s474.22(1) of the Criminal Code ꟷ five charges;
(c) possessing CAM obtained or accessed using a carriage service contrary to s474.22A(1) of the Criminal Code ꟷ one charge.
2 The maximum penalty for each individual offence is fifteen years. There are also two related 16BA Crimes Act 1984 (Cth) matters, being: Use a carriage service to access CAM contrary to s474.19(1) of the Criminal Code and make available CAM via a carriage service contrary to s474.22(1) of the Criminal Code.
Brief background matters
3 You were born in March 1988 in Victoria. Your parents are still alive. You are part of a sibship of four, including a twin brother. You completed Year 12, went to university and completed several years of a behavioural science degree. You did not finish the degree.
4 I have read the reports of Mr Simon Candlish, Mr Peter Hanley and Mr Martin Gladman. The most relevant historical matters will be referred to here. Most notably, in your early teens, you began using online private chat rooms to engage in sexual communication. In these chat rooms, you engaged with other users, some of whom were adult males who sent you sexual images of other boys. You developed your sexual interest in showing yourself off on webcam on the internet, by sending sexually explicit images of yourself to others. You were encouraged by the positive attention you received.
5 Occupationally, you began casual part-time work in your teens and continued while at university. These were things such as shelf stacking, pizza delivery and nightclub work. You attempted a hairdressing apprenticeship for about three years. You have not pursued that career. You then worked in a customer service role for two years, before obtaining work as a truck driver. You have remained in that position until the present day.
6 You met your first partner, Mr La Rose-Knight, in high school. You continued in your relationship with him as intimate partners. Many years later, you met your second partner, Mr Ty Caldwell. The three of you formed a “throuple” relationship, which endured until recently.
7 You used drugs such as MDMA and methamphetamine sporadically during your university days. At about the age of 24, your use of methamphetamine became more frequent. In the initial years, your use was in company with others while engaged in partying and sexual activity. From the age of about 30, that use of methamphetamine became more frequent, compulsive behaviour. In this context, you began to view pornography involving CAM. You also began to communicate with others in this regard and share CAM. It is these communications which form the basis of the charges.
The offending
8 You have accepted, through your counsel, the prosecution opening as to the relevant factual circumstances of the offending. That offending can be summarised as the follows.
9 Charge 1 ꟷ between 11 June 2018 and 20 November 2018, accessing CAM images on Tumblr involving male children engaged in sexually penetrative acts with adult males, a male child restrained by wrists and ankles, selfie images of a male with an erection and male children showering.
10 Charge 2 ꟷ between 24 February 2021 and 8 November 2021, uploading CAM to the mega.nz file sharing website. There are seven videos of between 14 seconds and 5 minutes and 38 seconds, in length. The uploaded videos depict, variously, the oral and anal penetration of infants and teens by male penises. Sometimes this occurs forcefully and there is obvious distress.
11 Charge 3 ꟷ on 3 September 2021, a Telegram conversation regarding the CAM depicted in Charge 2. A link to the video of Charge 2 was included.
12 Charge 4 ꟷ between 7 September 2021 and 27 October 2021, you accessed CAM via Telegram and engaged in conversations regarding the videos with another user. This comprised one image and two videos. During that conversation, you responded to a particular video by stating the following words, “the whole point of having kids”.
13 Charge 5 ꟷ you transmitted CAM. This involves video footage and engaging in text messages with other users between 7 September 2021 and 14 November 2021. This comprised three videos of between 9 seconds, and 2 minutes and 38 seconds. The CAM video depicts the forced penetration and rape of infants by adults. In one message you wrote, “I'd love to watch you rape a toddler but I'd also love you to rape me while I lovingly worship you”.
14 Charge 6 ꟷ on 2 November 2021, you caused CAM videos to be transmitted to yourself. This comprised three videos. You engaged in conversation in which you stated, “[g]ot any more vids of little kids getting fucked”.
15 Charge 7 ꟷ on 18 November 2021, your seized Apple iPad and Samsung phone were found to contain CAM images and videos. This was a total of thirteen images and eight videos.
16 In total, the material amounts to unique files of thirteen images, and there are eight unique videos. I do not propose to describe in greater detail the CAM. It is unnecessary to do so, because they are described in detail in the Opening, and depositional material that I have read. I have viewed a sample of the material in court and I am satisfied that the descriptions of the material are accurate. It is accepted that the CAM is vile, distressing and inhumane. Your counsel accepted that some of the material is at the extreme end of depravity. I accept that as an accurate description of the material.
Arrest
17 On 18 November 2021, the Australian Federal Police and Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Taskforce executed a search warrant on your premises following the arrest and search of another offender. That search had revealed the Telegram conversations with you referred to above. Upon the search warrant being executed at your house, you provided access to your devices, participated in a record of interview and granted the authorities access to your online identity. You were fully co-operative and made full admissions. Charges were then filed on 25 November 2021.
18 It is accepted that you pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity. You were bailed to the plea hearing on conditions which allowed you to continue working, but restricted your access to the internet, and also not to be in the company of any underage person. You have complied with those obligations.
Pleas of guilty, remorse and co-operation
19 Following on from your co-operation with investigators, I record that the guilty plea is of significant utilitarian benefit. I accept your pleas of guilty are indicative of your remorse for your conduct and your willingness to facilitate the course of justice, which is demonstrated by your co-operation with the police, particularly the assignation of your online identity, to assist with further investigative enquiries. This is supported by the comments of your social worker/counsellor, Mr Gladman, at page 6 of his report, of you having “genuine remorse” and being disgusted with yourself for the behaviour you have engaged in.
20 Sentencing in respect of these offences is governed by the Crimes Act. Attention was focused on s20(1)(b)(iii). In particular, your counsel, Mr De Vietri, submitted that you satisfied the legislative requirement constituting “exceptional circumstances”. I accept that submission due to the combination of factors at work in your background, the circumstances of the offending, and the current level of prosocial factors in the medical evidence.
21 Starting with the background factors. It is clear that, in your early teens, you were groomed by older males into exhibiting yourself and engaging in sexualised behaviour. This occurred in a situation where you craved attention and aimed to please older men, in part driven by your poor relationship with your father. Mr Candlish noted that this led to the development of deviant sexual scripts which ultimately had a role in your offending. I accept that it did have a role in your offending.
22 This desire to be subjugated and to please is evident in the way some of the offending occurred. For example, in the exchange I have previously referred to, in one of the text messages, you said to another offender:
“I'd love to watch you rape the toddler, but I'd also love you to rape me while I lovingly worship you”
23 Mr Hanley opined:
“… The disturbing paedophilic arousal patterns that characterised [your] offending appear to be tethered to [your] own experiences of sexual exploitation.”
24 In a similar vein, Mr Candlish noted:
“[Your] deviant arousal has developed as a result of the sexual grooming of [you] as a child resulting in premature sexualisation. [You] became desensitised to pornography and progressively interested in prurient themes. … .”
25 Second, there is no doubt that your ongoing methamphetamine use had a role to play. It became a more constant presence in your life around the time the offending occurred. Third, there are a very large number of prosocial factors surrounding you. This is somewhat unusual in a case such as this. Your employer has continued to employ you while you are on bail, has written a letter of reference, and has promised ongoing employment. Your siblings appeared in court and wrote letters of reference in support of you. Your partners appeared in court and wrote letters in support. All spoke of you as a good person, kind and trustworthy. They viewed this behaviour as entirely abhorrent and, as a testament of their belief in your fundamentally good character, have offered you their ongoing support. Your parents also appeared in court.
26 All this speaks to the strong support network you have and can continue to rely on. In essence, you will have work, food, shelter, friends and family. While not a rarity for offenders before this Court, the breadth and depth of this support, in your counsel's words, “is impressive”. I accept that characterisation.
27 Next, is the medical material. Since the offending, you have seen Mr Gladman for counselling. His report was tendered. You have fully explained your offending to him in order to obtain treatment. However, full disclosure was not made until well into his treatment of you, perhaps delaying some of your rehabilitation. You began seeing him in December 2021 and have seen him on a total of sixteen occasions. This demonstrates your commitment to obtaining help in understanding your offending.
28 He has recommended that you need special psychological help and you have begun that with Mr Hanley, a specialist in sexual offender treatment. Mr Hanley's report of 11 November 2022 was also tendered on the plea. He has seen you six times in the last three months. He confirms you have been open and genuine and that you were open to positive professional influence.
29 Lastly, Mr Candlish, a consultant psychologist, saw you in October 2022 at the request of your lawyers. He records that you participated openly and honestly, and that the various psychometric tests conducted were validly done. As a result, his ultimate clinical formulation was that you suffered from:
(a) a mild alcohol use disorder;
(b) a moderate stimulant use disorder in remission;
(c) a moderate persistent depressive disorder; and
(d) a generalised anxiety disorder.
30 He did not consider you met the criteria for a paedophilic disorder. He considered that you are a low risk for sexual offending similar to the extant offending.
31 I note that this is your first offending and that there has been no subsequent offending since you were bailed.
32 Turning, then, to the meaning of exceptional circumstances found in the Crimes Act. The parties filed written submissions on this point. The prosecution contended that the Court must test the offender's circumstances as measured against the circumstances of people who are in the cohort of criminal offenders who have been found guilty of a Commonwealth child sex offence. Defence submits this is an unduly restrictive reading of the term and that it should be given its ordinary meaning.
33 I accept the defence submissions on this point for the following reasons. First, the wording of the legislation imposes no such restriction. Second, the court in R v Tootle ex parte AG specifically stated that the words “exceptional circumstances” ought be given their ordinary meaning,[1] and made no mention of the requirement of comparison, as the prosecution, here, suggests ought be made. In fact, and contrary to the Director's submission, while it can be accepted the Crimes Act focuses attention on the circumstances of the particular offender, it does not then go on to state a comparison ought be made with other offenders in that category.
[1] [2012] QCA 273 at [18]
34 That is significant, because it would further limit the broad sentencing discretion by, narrowing further, those capable of satisfying the exceptional circumstances test. That would be expected to be legislatively clear. It is not. Third, regard to the Explanatory Memorandum does not indicate such a restriction ought be read into the words used.
35 As a result of my rejection of the Director's submission, I consider that the term “exceptional circumstances” should be given its ordinary meaning of being “out of the ordinary course or unusual or special or uncommon”. In combination, but with particular attention focused on the matters linking your own history of being sexually abused in your formative years to the current offending, I find exceptional circumstances do exist. I make it clear that a finding of exceptional circumstances does not automatically mean immediate release, but simply allows for that particular sentencing disposition to become open to the Court as one of a number of various sentencing dispositions available. That is made clear by the chapeau of s20(1) of the Crimes Act, ?? which is not couched in mandatory terms.
36 I now turn to conduct the synthesis of the sentencing considerations and the legislative mandates in the material presented on the plea and in submissions, starting with the issue of media coverage.
37 The defence raised the issue of media coverage and the resultant family hardship this had caused. It was conceded that the media coverage was not large and could not be considered extra curial punishment, neither was the family hardship submitted to be exceptional. Evidence from Mr Caldwell was called in this regard. Having read the decision of Rogerson v R; McNamara v R [2021] NSWCAA 160. I am bound by it, and I have considered the fact of media coverage and its resultant impact on family hardship in my overall sentence.
The objective seriousness of the offending
38 I have had regard to Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) v D'Alessandro [2010] VSCA 60 (‘D'Alessandro’), wherein his Honour Harper JA set out some of the factors which illuminate the objective seriousness of the offending. The nature and the content of the material was, as was conceded, vile, disgusting and inhumane. It was also conceded that it was at the extreme end of such offending, given the very young age of the children involved and the fact that, at times, restraint or real physical violence was involved. However, the number of items of video or photographs you possessed was small in nature. It was, in total, some twenty-one files. Necessarily, the number of children depicted was also reasonably small.
39 The material was obtained for personal use and it was not sought to be sold or profited from. However, the plea of guilty to the transmission charge must be noted here, in that it was material transmitted, so as to involve others and to derive the personal benefit of self-gratification from the person who received it thinking better of you. It is also relevant that the material remained extant on your devices and had not been deleted at the time of your arrest.
40 As to whether the fact of your childhood abuse and the laying of deviant scripts, or your current psychological condition, lessens the moral culpability of your offending, it was not submitted that any of the R v Verdins; R v Buckley; R v Vo (2007) 16 VR 269 limbs applied. Overall, given these matters, I do consider that the defence concession is well made. I find that the offending was serious and depraved in the extreme.
Sentencing considerations
41 General deterrence is the primary sentencing consideration for offending involving CAM. This is made abundantly clear by the more recent amendments to the Crimes Act to insert various parts into s20. When regard is had to the Explanatory Memorandum at paragraphs 26 and 45, it can be seen that the presumption of imprisonment for such offences is founded on the notion that general deterrence is a very important sentencing consideration. Allied with this, is the fact that such behaviour must be denounced for the reasons outlined in the matter of D'Alessandro.
42 I consider that specific deterrence is of far less weight in this matter, given the medical material of good engagement with treatment, and Mr Candlish's view that you are a low risk of re-offending. Your past unblemished record also stands as a good indicator that this is not a sustained pattern of behaviour that might lead to a recurrence. However, balanced against this, is the fact that the offending took place in separate blocks of time, from June to November 2018 and then from February to November 2021. This suggests there was an element of returning to this horrendous behaviour, and it was not a one-off event.
43 Protection of the community is also a relevant consideration. This is because, as has been repeatedly said in cases such as this, the use of CAM material is not a victimless crime. By engaging in viewing, using and transmitting this material, the market for such material is stimulated. That stimulation results in the further abuse of children. As a community, this is something which must be protected against. However, given my comments above in respect of specific deterrence, protection of the community from this time onwards is less of a consideration in your situation.
44 Much weight was placed on your prospects of rehabilitation. I have referred to the very substantial material tendered as to your opportunities for rehabilitation in a well-supported and structured environment. Within that environment, you have your family, friends, and an employer, willing to continue to employ you. You are already engaged in the Sex Offenders Treatment Program with Mr Hanley. I was told from the Bar table that you have also seen your general practitioner (“GP”) in relation to your methamphetamine and alcohol use. These are the two matters that also need to be addressed in your rehabilitation, as it seems that it was the methamphetamine use, in particular, that was closely linked to you engaging in the offending behaviour. Your willingness to engage with your GP on these issues goes to your favour.
45 It was submitted that rehabilitation would be fatally undermined by any immediate term of imprisonment. The report of Mr Candlish was called in your aid where he stated:
“Sustained imprisonment appears likely to exacerbate [your] already compromise (sic) mental health. [You are] a vulnerable individual who is likely to … struggle within a prison environment. [Your]sense of self is already compromised and sustained incarceration is likely to impact considerably on [your] sense of self, affecting [your] depressive symptoms. [You have] been relying on alcohol abuse to cope and reduce [your] feelings of stress and depressive symptoms. With reduced access to such means in prison, [you] might struggle to confront [your] difficulties and experience a further decline in mood. Imprisonment is considered likely to weigh more heavily for [you] based on the nature of [your] mental health condition.”
46 I have weighed the material tendered on the plea on your behalf. It speaks powerfully of your very substantial prospects for rehabilitation. However, I do not consider that immediate release or a recognizance order gives adequate weight to the principle of general deterrence. Appellate courts have long established the principle that general deterrence is a primary consideration. They have gone further and suggested that a term of imprisonment is usually imposed for such offences.
47 The amendments, in 2020, to the Crimes Act, entrenched a legislative presumption of imprisonment in respect of offending after June 2020. I recite that simply to make the point that general deterrence is, and remains, an important sentencing consideration to be weighed in the balance. I consider that, to focus on the rehabilitative prospects to the exclusion of general deterrence, would be to make an error of law. At times, there may well be a situation where the circumstances allow for immediate release or a recognizance order after exceptional circumstances have been established.
48 Those circumstances, I find, do not arise in this case. This is because of the objective seriousness of the offending. Of particular concern, is that you are not a passive consumer of CAM. You transmitted it. You used it to curry favour with others. You actively spoke of brutal and depraved desires to be inflicted on the most vulnerable and defenceless in the community. In those circumstances, I will impose a period of imprisonment upon you. However, I am mindful of your strong rehabilitative prospects. This means the term of imprisonment I impose is calibrated to ensure that the links to your support network are not irretrievably broken.
49 I am mindful of the need for cumulation of sentences and the principle of totality. I also take into account the offences admitted pursuant to s16BA of the Act.
50 Mr Baldock, please stand.
51 Mr Baldock, by reason of your offending, I sentence you to a term of imprisonment of three years. I order that you serve six months' imprisonment before being released on a recognizance release order in the amount of $2,000, with the condition that you be of good behaviour for a period of two years and six months. You may now be seated, sir.
52 In respect of the charges, specifically, I sentence you as follows.
53 On Charge 1, you are convicted and sentenced to two years' imprisonment commencing today.
54 On Charge 2, you are convicted and sentenced to two years' imprisonment commencing one year before the completion of the sentence on Charge 1.
55 On Charge 3, you are convicted and sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment to commence one year before the completion of the sentence on Charge 1.
56 On Charge 4, you are convicted and sentenced to two years' imprisonment to commence one year before the completion of the sentence on Charge 1.
57 On Charge 5, you are convicted and sentenced to two-and-a-half years' imprisonment to commence 18 months before the completion of the sentence on Charge 1.
58 On Charge 6, you are convicted and sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment to commence one year before the completion of the sentence on Charge 1.
59 On Charge 7, you are convicted and sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment to commence one year before the completion of the sentence on Charge 1.
60 Pursuant to s16A(2AAA) of the Sentencing Act 1991, I take into account the objective of your successful rehabilitation and, in order to promote that objective, I impose the following conditions ꟷ that upon your release from custody you:
(a) be subject to the supervision of a probation officer for a period of two years and six months;
(b) obey all reasonable directions of the probation officer;
(c) not travel interstate or overseas without the written permission of the probation officer;
(d) undertake such treatment or rehabilitation programs that the probation officer reasonably directs.
61 I further direct as follows:
(a) you are to report to the Werribee Community Corrections Centre in Synott Street, Werribee within two clear working days upon release from custody;
(b) report to, and receive, visits from a Community Corrections officer or officers;
(c) notify an officer at the specified Community Corrections Centre of any change of address or employment within two clear working days after the change.
62 As to conditions regarding the Sex Offenders Program, I order that you attend for assessment and, if assessed as suitable, begin the Sex Offenders Program treatment to reduce your risk of re-offending, as directed by the Deputy Commissioner.
63 I order, pursuant to the Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004 that, as you have pleaded guilty to a Class 2 offence, you are required to comply with reporting obligations under that Act for a period of eight years from today.
64 I have considered the effect of Worboyes v R [2021] VSCA 169 and taken that into account in my sentence. Pursuant to 6AAA of the Sentencing Act, I declare that, had you not pleaded guilty to the offence before me, but been found guilty of that offence, I would have imposed a sentence of four-and-a-half years' imprisonment and ordered that you serve seven months before being released on a recognizance order.
65 Mr Baldock, the law requires that I explain the purpose of the sentence and the consequences that may follow if you fail to comply with the sentence I have imposed. You have been sentenced to three years' imprisonment, but I have ordered that you be released after serving six months of that sentence. The purpose of the sentence is both to impose upon you a sentence that is of a severity appropriate in all the circumstances of your case and a sentence that promotes your rehabilitation.
66 I accept that you have been undergoing psychological treatment to make sure you do not re-offend and this has resulted in an amelioration of your sentence. However, in order to ensure the continuation of this process, I have made it a condition of your sentence that you continue to receive such assistance and that you be the subject of supervision upon your release. Your release is conditional upon you entering a recognizance, which is akin to a promise that you will be of good behaviour for a period of two-and-a-half years after your release.
67 Part of the promise is that, should you fail to comply with your undertaking to be of good behaviour, you will be required to pay $2,000. You do not have to pay that amount now, but may forfeit that amount if you break the promise of your release, and, also, that you abide by a number of the supervisory conditions for two-and-a-half years, which commence immediately upon your release.
68 Those conditions are that, within two working days of your release, you attend Werribee Community Corrections. It will be explained to you there by the Office of Corrections how you must comply with their supervision, which will last for two-and-a-half years. During that period, you must not leave the State of Victoria without written permission, and you must undertake programs as you are directed. You must also advise of any change in your work or residential address. These conditions are quite separate from your reporting obligation under the Sex Offenders Registration Act. You must comply with those for a period of eight years. I am sure Mr De Vietri will go through those conditions with you and you will be given some documentation relating to those obligations.
69 You should understand that, if you are not of good behaviour for the period of two-and-a-half years, or fail to comply with lawful directions of the Department of Corrections, you can be brought back before the Court and dealt with in a number of ways. One of those ways is, that you can be ordered to serve the remaining period of the three-year sentence of imprisonment that I have imposed on you today.
70 Counsel, I will now have handed to you a summary of the charges. I would like you to check those to ensure that they are correct. During that time I will remain on the Bench. I will now permit members of the family and friends to approach Mr Baldock in the dock, Mr De Vietri, if they would like to do so prior to the final comments that I will make.
71 MR DE VIETRI: If Your Honour pleases.
72 HIS HONOUR: Madam Associate, please hand it out. Mr Diwell.
73 MR DIWELL: Yes, Your Honour. Firstly, on the matter of the Sex Offenders
- apologies, Your Honour. On the matter of the Sex Offenders Registry my learned friend and I have discussed pursuant to s34(1)(c)(iii) Mr Baldock has now been found guilty of three or more Class 2 offences therefore the reporting period should be for life.
74 HIS HONOUR: For life.
75 MR DIWELL: In addition to the 6AAA declaration Your Honour made, that's not a sentence that is available as Your Honour has sentenced over
three years.
76 HIS HONOUR: Yes, of course - of course.
77 MR DIWELL: So that's the only submission I'd make in relation to that.
78 HIS HONOUR: Yes, that's obviously correct. Thank you.
79 MR DIWELL: And in relation to the sentence I think the maths is correct.
80 MR DE VIETRI: I agree, Your Honour, with all of that.
81 HIS HONOUR: Yes. All right.
82 MR DE VIETRI: The tricky thing about Commonwealth sentencing is making sure that all the cumulation adds up and it does add up to the total fixed sentence of three years, to be released after six months.
83 HIS HONOUR: Yes. Well, I'll make a correction - thank you, Mr Diwell - in respect of the four and a half years and the non-parole period ultimately. And otherwise you agree with the Sex Offenders Registration point about it being life reporting rather than a limited - - -
84 MR DE VIETRI: Yes, Your Honour.
85 HIS HONOUR: Yes, all right. Mr Baldock, in a moment you will be asked to sign a document acknowledging that these conditions have been explained to you and that you understand your obligations. My associate will approach you now with that document. If there is anything in it that you do not understand, or you would like Mr De Vietri's assistance with, then he can come and explain that to you immediately. Mr De Vietri.
86 MR DE VIETRI: May I join your associate, Your Honour?
87 HIS HONOUR: Yes, certainly. I think we'll just need to amend that to take into account the life reporting so it will take a moment. Mr De Vietri, do you need to speak to your client while this is occurring?
88 MR DE VIETRI: If I could, yes, I would appreciate that.
89 HIS HONOUR: Yes, certainly.
90 MR DE VIETRI: Thank you, Your Honour.
91 HIS HONOUR: Mr De Vietri, my associate will go with you. Mr De Vietri, before we adjourn the court are there any custody management issues?
92 MR DE VIETRI: Your Honour, if it could be noted that he is diagnosed with a depressive disorder.
93 HIS HONOUR: Any medication?
94 MR DE VIETRI: Anxiety and depression, which are part of his diagnosis which have been traversed during the plea. No medication as I understand it for those particular diagnoses. He's currently on antibiotics.
95 HIS HONOUR: Antibiotics.
96 MR DE VIETRI: That's - - -
97 HIS HONOUR: Can you indicate to me what type and does he have them on him?
98 MR DE VIETRI: He has them with him. Amoxicillin for an ear infection.
99 HIS HONOUR: All right.
100 MR DE VIETRI: Those are the only matters. Thank you.
101 HIS HONOUR: Yes, that will be noted on the order. Madam Associate, everything else in order? All right. Mr Baldock can be taken into custody now, please. Adjourn the court, please.
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