Director of Public Prosecutions v Ali (a pseudonym)
[2023] VCC 813
•12 May 2023
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| MARAH ALI (A PSEUDONYM) |
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JUDGE: | Her Honour Judge Hassan |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne |
DATE OF HEARING: | 27 April 2023 |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 12 May 2023 |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Ali (a pseudonym) |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2023] VCC 813 |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject: CRIMINAL LAW
Catchwords: Sentence – sexual penetration of a child under 16 – plea of guilty – standard sentence offence
Legislation Cited: Sentencing Act 1991; Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004.
Cases Cited:Worboyes v The Queen [2021] VSCA 169; R v Verdins & Ors [2007] VSCA 102.
Sentence:Total effective sentence of 2 years and 6 months imprisonment, non parole period of 1 year.
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director of Public Prosecutions | Mr S. Devlin | Solicitor for the Office of Public Prosecutions |
For the Accused | Ms R Shann SC with Ms S. Stafford | Chester Metcalfe & Co |
HIS HONOUR:
1Marah Ali[1], you pleaded guilty to one charge of sexual penetration of a child under 16, for which the maximum penalty is a term of imprisonment
of 15 years. The charge of sexual penetration with a child under 16, is also a standard sentence offence and the standard sentence is six years' imprisonment.[1]A pseudonym.
2Tendered on the plea as Exhibit 1 was a summary of prosecution opening, dated 16 November 2022. In brief the circumstances of your offending were as follows.
3You were a Spanish and psychology teacher at the victims high school. You started your employment there in January 2001 and you primarily taught Years 7 and 8. The victim in this matter is Mark Cole[2]. Mark Cole was born in 2007.
[2]A pseudonym.
4Some time in June 2021, Mark Cole sent a friend request to your private accounts on Facebook and Instagram and you accepted these requests. Some time towards the end of 2001, Mark Cole downloaded the social media application Snapchat onto your phone. In December 2021, Mark Cole assisted you to create a profile on Snapchat which you did, in the name of Gabriella which allowed you and Mark Cole to communicate without others knowing.
5You were 43 years old at the time. You turned 44 at the end of 2021. Mark Cole was 14. You were well aware that communicating with a student outside of the scope of your teaching role was prohibited and that you should not have been engaging in this conduct. However, notwithstanding this, your contact with him continued over the summer break of December 2021 and
January 2022. You and Mark Cole communicated intermittently via Snapchat, the conversations were just general chat and were not sexual in nature.6In January 2022, Mark Cole contacted you on Snapchat and asked to have a drink with you. Sensibly, you declined. On 28 January 2022, Mark Cole again contacted you and asked to have a drink with you. Foolishly you accepted. You made arrangements for Mark Cole to travel to your home in Croydon, you arranged to collect him from the railway station.
7On Saturday, 29 January 2022 as arranged you met Mark Cole at the Croydon railway station. He got into your car. Mark Cole stated that you told him to keep a low profile in the car and instructed Mark Cole to, 'Keep your head down'. You drove past the Croydon police station located on Mount Dandenong Road Croydon. You and Mark Cole arrived at your address shortly thereafter. At your home, Mark Cole helped himself to alcohol and made himself a number of drinks. You were aware he was drinking and did nothing to stop him. You and Mark Cole walked outside to a small table and chairs where you both sat down. You had a cigarette. You told police when you were outside you went and sat on Mark Cole’s lap and gave him a kiss. You told police he said something along the lines of - 'I left my friends for you.'
8When Mark Cole was sitting at the outdoor table, the Stussi baseball cap he was wearing fell off his head without either he or you realising. A short time later Mark Cole entered your premises and ran up the stairs with you following behind him. On the stairs, Mark Cole touched your breasts, you responded by saying, 'No, don't worry about my boobs.' Mark Cole and you then walked upstairs to where your bedroom was located. Mark Cole described your actions by stating, 'She started to slowly come onto me, I guess, started kissing me, which I went along with, because I was like, I didn't really want to say anything, I was - I wasn't in a right mind to make choices - the right choices at that time.' What happened in your bedroom is largely made out by the answers you gave police in your record of interview, which was conducted on 22 May last year.
9You told police you followed Mark Cole stating, 'He ran up himself and I went up and followed him. He laid on the bed, I did lay on the bed, yes, I remember saying to him, the whole time, "This is so wrong", in fact, I was giggling from disbelief at what was happening on some level. He kept saying, "Stop laughing". You and Mark Cole lay on the bed located in your bedroom. He undressed himself and you undressed yourself. You stated that he said, 'Let me have one pump?' Mark Cole climbed on top of you and inserted his penis into your vagina while you were lying on your back. You admitted to police, 'We had sex.' Mark Cole then withdrew his penis from your vagina, and asked you, 'You wanna - you wanna suck it?' You then performed oral sex on Mark Cole by putting his penis into your mouth for a short time. You turned around so your back was facing him. He then inserted his penis into your vagina.
10You stated, 'Well we had sex. I remember at one point he said, "Can we do doggy style?" so I was like "Yeah". Oh, so I turn over, yes I did, and then he started, and because of whatever issues I'm having now, it was very painful and I said, "No, stop"'. You turned around so you were again on your back, Mark Cole inserted his penis into your vagina for a third time. You said, 'So when I turned around, he just wanted more missionary and then it was done in, not for very - not a very long time at all, minute - minute max. You told police, 'He was off, in fact I didn't even realise he had cum, because I was like, "Oh, did you cum?" he was like, "Yeah" and he pointed, and here was a smallest, tiny bit of whatever you want to call it at that age.'
11The charge to which you pleaded guilty is therefore a rolled-up charge consisting of four acts of sexual penetration occurring over a short period of time. After the sexual activity you and Mark Cole sat on the stairs. He sat on a stair and you sat on top of him. He used his mobile phone to record a three second video of you both at this time. Mark Cole then left your house and confided in a friend what had happened. Mark Cole then contacted his father who collected him in Croydon. His father found Mark Cole to be alcohol-affected. He then went with his father to his mother's home. Mark Cole’s mother says that he was drunk.
12Mark Cole told his friends that he had taken a bottle of Jack Daniels from your home and therefore the prosecution do not allege that he became intoxicated to the point of observable drunkenness at your home. At his mother's home,
Mark Cole became distressed and went to his room and began crying. He did not however tell his mother what had happened.13Back at school after the summer holidays, you tried to talk to Mark Cole. He describes you as being tearful and unable to talk to him saying you messaged him to explain things.
14On an unknown date in early February 2022, you sent Mark Cole a message via the Facebook platform. The message included, 'Hey handsome, thanks for reading this. I definitely regret it and wish I hadn't cause.
I hate how it is right now, I'm truly sorry if I hurt you. Fucking love your guts forever and xxx.'15On 4 March 2022, you sent Mark Cole a message via Facebook stating, 'Hey handsome, no reception at camp. Miss you, come and say hi at camp xx.' The victim did not respond.
16On 20 March 2020, you sent Mark Cole a message via Facebook stating, 'Morning handsome [with a kiss emoji], can we chat?' He did not respond.
17On 23 March 2022, you sent Mark Cole a message via Facebook stating, 'You unfriended me [and there was broken heart emoji], I tried x.' He then blocked you on the Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook social media platforms. The victim stated that he had sent the video of himself and you recorded on 29 January to two people, who later sent the video on to other students, which then overtime grew, to a lot of people.
18On 29 April 2022, the victim, fearful of the consequences of the video going public, confided to his sister about what had occurred with you in January. His sister encouraged her brother to advise their mother what had occurred.
He subsequently confided in his mother on 29 April 2022.19On 30 April 2022, his mother drove Mark Cole to the Knox SOCIT office to report the matter to police. He made a VARE statement.
20On Monday, 2 May 2022, police executed a search warrant at your home. A number of incriminating items were seized but not the Stussi baseball hat which you told police you put in a desk at school, where indeed it was later found.
21You were interviewed on 2 May 2022. You were cooperative and made full admissions and provided details which Mark Cole had not been able. You provided the investigators with usernames and passwords to electronic items seized by investigators. You said, you sent the victim a message after the incident stating, 'Love you and I - I say these things, I don't mean it in that way, I just meant as my favourite student, love you, you know, whatever, you're still my faves, still hope we can be good?'
22You advised investigators that you in fact felt like a victim. You said, 'I'm so embarrassed, I'm so ashamed, I can't believe he did it, I can't believe, I feel like he did that to me, I can't believe he did that to me.'
23When queried about the relationship with Mark Cole, you explained that you 'Felt glad, happy that someone was paying attention to me.' Towards the end of the interview, police asked, I would just like to get your opinion of, he was 14,
you're 44, you answered, 'Yes, it's wrong, just wrong. Old enough to be his mother, yeah. He's very young. Too young, a child. I cannot tell you what was in my mind, what was going on, if anything, I wasn't thinking about the number which is absolutely horrific.'24It is clear from both your perspective and that of Mark Cole that this was a disastrous sexual encounter which you both immediately and deeply regretted. It is clear that it has had a profound effect on the victim. The law imposes an absolute prohibition on sex between adults and children, because the law recognises that premature sexual activity is always harmful to children, often in ways that they themselves are unable to understand.
25Harm is presumed to children when they are the victims of sexual abuse by adults. Here there is also evidence of actual harm contained in Mark Cole’s victim impact statement. He says that what happened with you has become known at school. He says, he used to have plenty of friends, but that he has now lost his friends and he is the subject of schoolyard ridicule and derision. He says that it caused conflict in his family. He says he has lost his reputation, as just a regular kid and he now keeps to himself and does not enjoy the things he used to, like sport. At the end of his victim impact statement, he says, 'If I could take it all back, I would in a millisecond.'
26Mark Cole’s mother says in her victim impact statement, that her son from the time he arrived at her home on 29 January was inconsolable and has continued to be highly distressed and anguished about what occurred. She says, he suffers from anxiety and depression. She says that she feels she has failed to protect her son and because of this, may fail him in the future. His mother should know that none of this has anything to do with her failure as a parent, nor is any blame attributable to the victim. He was 14 years old. Young people make mistakes, often attributable to their immaturity and sometimes poor choices and lack of judgment.
27The law must endeavour to protect children and young people from sexual exploitation by adults. This often involves protecting children against themselves, and against the consequences of their own immaturity and poor decisions.
28I turn now to your plea of guilty.
29You have pleaded guilty. You have always been prepared to resolve this matter, and yours is a plea at the earliest opportunity. It has significant utilitarian value especially given the ongoing effects on the administration of criminal justice in this state caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and I take that into consideration in sentencing you. And I sentence you in accordance with the principles set out in the case of Worboyes.[3]
[3]Worboyes v The Queen [2021] VSCA 169
30By virtue of your plea, you acknowledge your criminal responsibility and I also accept your plea of guilty is indicative of remorse on your part. I make this finding in conjunction with your full admissions to the police and your expressions of remorse during the record of interview, as well as your ongoing expressions of remorse. Most recently in a letter of apology you wrote to the victim, which is available to him, if he chooses to read it.
31I also make the finding in light of the steps you have taken to get treatment and rehabilitation which I will discuss more fully later in these reasons. You are also entitled to what is called a Doran Discount.[4] The case against you is made out to a significant degree by what you yourself told police in your record of interview. And I take this into account in sentencing you as a matter in mitigation, the effect of which will be a reduction in the sentence.
[4]R v Doran[2005] VSCA 271, [15]-[16] (“Doran Discount”)
32I turn now to your personal circumstances and to the psychological material filed on your behalf.
33You were born in December 1977, and you are presently 45 years old.
You have no prior criminal history. Indeed, you were a person of an unblemished character before this offending and by all accounts you were a dedicated and well-respected teacher. In outlining your background and presentation, I rely on the reports filed which are a psychological report of Mr Geoffrey Burrows dated 13 April 2023. A psychological report of Dr Matthew Barth, dated 14 April 2023 and a treatment report of Ms Pamela Wakefield-Semmens, psychologist from Pentangle dated 16 April 2023.34I begin with Dr Barth's report. You met with him on three occasions in
March 2023. By way of family history, you told him you were born in Iran.
You are one of three girls. Your family left Iran when you were
eight years old and you lived in London before arriving in Australia when you were 12. You said you had a sheltered upbringing in Australia, your father was protective and also strict. You describe your parents as conservative and although supportive, you told Dr Barth that emotions are not discussed and expressed openly in Persian culture.35You were a bright student. You achieved good results in your Year 12,
you always wanted to be become a teacher. You did a Bachelor of Arts at Monash University and majored in Spanish and psychology. You obtained a position at the victim’s school teaching in both these fields. You enjoyed your work. You were popular with the students and this gave you a great sense of pride as did seeing your students achieve and reach their potential.36In 2019, due to changes at the school, you experienced for the first time some dissatisfaction in your work. But it was the period of lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020 and 2021, when your mental health and wellbeing plummeted. You lived alone and had no contact with anyone except your students via remote learning. You told Dr Barth a number of students began exhibiting behavioural difficulties during this period. In addition, long hours were required of you to keep teaching in these difficult circumstances. You told Dr Barth you became very tearful, anxious and depressed.
37Your employment as a teacher was terminated because of your offending.
You have tried to rebuild your life by retraining in hospitality and you were working at a city hotel in guest relations and were enjoying your work. However, you have become fearful of being recognised by guests because of media attention and you left your position in March of this year. You told Dr Barth you hoped to be able to achieve a Master's degree in business and a hotel leadership in the future.38You have had only two intimate relationships. One when you were 20 and another which you describe as off and on for several years up until 2014, during which time you did not live together or meet each other's families. You have not dated since 2014. You have not felt any deep sense of connection with anyone else. You told Dr Barth you had not felt any desire to marry or have children, but there are many occasions when you would like some companionship. You have drunk alcohol socially since your 20s, it was not a problem for you until lockdown when you started to drink on a daily basis.
You also started to smoke heavily during this period. You stopped drinking in May 2022.39You told Dr Barth you had always enjoyed good mental health except during some periods of emotional distress, but that your mental health deteriorated during lockdown. You told him you experienced intense feelings of sadness, loneliness and were regularly feeling emotionally overwhelmed. In the aftermath of being charged, you consulted your general practitioner in
May 2022 and were prescribed an antidepressant and sleeping pills. You obtained a referral to Ms Pamela Wakefield-Semmens, psychologist who you continue to see and you also commenced treatment with Mr Geoffrey Burrows, provisional psychologist of the Sex Offender Treatment Program.40Dr Barth found you to be an intelligent woman, but one who presented as emotionally immature for a woman in her mid 40’s. Dr Barth says that although you desire closeness and intimacy with others, you have failed to achieve or to commit to an intimate connection with another person. He says to compensate for her intimacy issues, “Ms [Ali’s] relationship with her colleagues and students had taken on a particular importance to her and was the main bulwark of her self-esteem. And her main bulwark of her self-esteem was attained through her role as a teacher. Apart from the offending behaviour, Ms [Ali’s] reliance on her career to buttress her self-esteem, was achieved through pro-social behaviour.”
41Dr Barth concluded you showed no signs of sexual deviancy and were attracted to adult men. Dr Barth assessed you as a low to moderate risk of reoffending, trending towards a low risk of reoffending if you completed the Sex Offender Treatment Program. Dr Barth gave the opinion that your mental health bears the residual impacts of the personal and mental problems you experienced between 2019 and 2022. He says you still suffer considerable shame and ruminate about and are pre-occupied with the fear of being vilified in the community. Dr Barth gives the opinion that your current symptoms remain sufficiently severe to warrant a diagnosis of adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood.
42Dr Barth gives the opinion that at the time of your offending your intense distress and fragile mental health was such that it would have adversely affected your ability to think clearly and make decisions. He says, 'This strong need to assuage her emotional distress through contact with others would have left her prone to make poor interpersonal decisions at that time, rather than when she was not depressed or anxious.'
43Dr Barth gives the opinion,
'Were the Court to consider a custodial disposition to be the appropriate outcome in her case, I would consider her to be a relatively vulnerable prisoner. This would arise on account of her naivety to the prison system, or the prison environment, the opprobrium with which her offending would be viewed by other offenders and her current emotional distress. She would be likely to require monitoring by prison mental health staff to prevent any further deterioration in her mood.”
44Ms Wakefield-Semmens, the Psychologist to whom you were referred shortly after being charged, recounts in her report the same trajectory of mental decline during the lockdown period. Although she also notes that prior to lockdown you had begun to already show signs of not coping. She notes that you had experienced some significant health issues including requiring a hysterectomy. Ms Wakefield-Semmens diagnosed you as suffering persistent depressive disorder with intermittent major depressive episodes in the preceding two years. She further diagnosed you as suffering an adjustment disorder, mixed anxiety and depressed mood.
45Ms Wakefield-Semmens also gives the opinion you display a number of emotional and behavioural traits in response to stress, such as perfectionist traits, and a pre-occupation with organisation and an unwillingness to delegate. Ms Wakefield-Semmens was of the opinion that you exhibited disassociation symptoms and in times of difficulty disengaged mentally and physically in order to cope. Ms Wakefield-Semmens says the problem with disassociation as a coping technique is that experiences are not processed and help from others is not sought in times of need.
46She says,
'In my opinion, Ms [Ali’s] lapse in mental health due to exhaustion and fatigue, and the isolation imposed by COVID restrictions affected her behaviour and day-to-day functioning. She had normally been actively engaged with friends. When she became burnt out and distressed with the workload and lonely with COVID isolation she became drinking and displayed dissociative symptoms. She struggled to manage her impulses, lost touch with reality, exhibited poor judgement in being able to reason, predict and consider boundaries and consequences, and displayed poor decision making. Her emotional responses became more reactive and considered.'
47Like Dr Barth, Ms Wakefield-Semmens gave the opinion that prison would be a very difficult place for you and incarceration may lead to a worsening of your mental health symptoms.
48Finally, Mr Burrows confirms that since 17 October 2022, you have completed 15 sessions of the Sex Offender Treatment Program. He says, you impressed him as a psychologically immature and vulnerable woman, struggling to come to terms with the gravity of your situation. He found you to be ashamed and embarrassed about your behaviour and motivated to participate in treatment. He says, that you are at an early stage of treatment but your engagement has been comprehensive and you are developing insight and are progressing. He says, you have been participating in cognitive behaviour therapy to assist you to develop healthier coping skills and help you manage negative emotions and poor self-esteem and feelings of shame. Mr Burrows like Dr Barth and
Ms Wakefield-Semmens, was of the opinion, prison could lead to a worsening of your mental health.49There were character references filed on your behalf.
50Janette Young[5] is a fellow teacher and was your colleague for 13 years. She describes you as a person of warmth and compassion who cared for her students and was supportive of other staff members. She said she lost contact with you during the lockdown period of COVID and saw you again in 2022. She says you had noticeably changed and were agitated. She says, since your arrest you have expressed sorrow for your conduct and have committed yourself to counselling and rehabilitation. She says, she has observed your mental health to have deteriorated and that media coverage has resulted in you being harassed by strangers and that as a consequence of this you are fearful. She says, you have significant concerns about being able to rebuild your life.
[5]A pseudonym.
51Sheila Meng[6] is also a fellow teacher who was the head of languages at the school and has known you since January 2014. She says, as well as being a longstanding colleague, you are a close friend who helped and supported her when her infant daughter died only days after her birth in 2007. She describes you as an exemplary teacher and she says she is in complete shock at the charge to which you have pleaded guilty. She says you have her continued support.
[6]A pseudonym.
52Simone Sykes[7] is also a fellow teacher. She has known you since 2003, through her employment at the school. She says, when she had her children and was struggling, working and parenting, you would come over every Wednesday and clean her house and play with her children. She says you support numerous charities. She describes you as empathetic, honest, loyal and caring. She says, she met with you for walks during the lockdown period and she said she could see you were struggling to cope.
[7]A pseudonym.
53Diane Rocco[8] has worked with you, since 2012, and she is a classroom support integration aide. She says you are a patient and understanding teacher. She says she was in disbelief when she found out about the charge against you. She says, students have told her the story is all over social media. She says she has witnessed you being confronted and humiliated in public by a student. She says you are making concerted efforts with treatment and to rebuild a future. She says, you have her continued support.
[8]A pseudonym.
54Finally, your sister is a surgical registrar, says she is the only person in the family that you have told about your situation. She says you are fearful about the ramifications for your family, if your offending becomes known within their religious community. She says, your life has changed forever. You have suffered loss and humiliation.
55I now turn to the submissions of the parties and I begin with the submissions of the defence.
56Ms Shann of senior counsel who appeared with Ms Stafford relied on the following matters in mitigation of sentence. First your plea of guilty at the earliest opportunity. Secondly, your significant admissions in your record of interview which largely made out the facts and circumstances of the charge against you which entitled you to a Doran Discount.
57Thirdly, your hitherto good character, which was not of assistance to you in the commission of the offence. A submission with which the prosecution did not take issue. Your remorse and rehabilitation. Ms Shann submitted you have demonstrated your rehabilitation through the treatment and counselling you have already engaged in. She submitted you have taken steps to rebuild a positive and pro-social future for yourself, by retraining and seeking out new employment opportunities. Ms Shann said, in your case there was no applicability of the sentencing principles of specific deterrence or community protection.
58Ms Shann submitted the applicability of Verdins[9] principle 1, reducing your moral culpability to a modest extent. Ms Shann made this submission on the basis of the evidence in the psychological reports already outlined. Ms Shann submitted there was also applicability of Verdins principles 5 and 6 which concern your mental health difficulties, which will make any period of imprisonment more difficult for you than a prisoner in robust mental health. And that imprisonment will have a significantly adverse effect on your mental health. Again, in making this submission, Ms Shann relied upon the reports tendered.
[9]R v Verdins & Ors [2007] VSCA 102
59Ms Shann submitted there had been extra-curial punishment in your case, including your loss of career and reputation and the effects on you as a vulnerable person caused by media reporting. Ms Shann acknowledged the gravity of your offending. She acknowledged that at all times you knew what was wrong, but to me she urged me to have regard to the circumstances in which you found yourself which had precipitated your mental decline.
60She submitted in accordance with Dr Barth's finding that you were was someone who had a very limited experience of emotional intimacy and during the period of intense loneliness in isolation, you inappropriately turned to one of your students. Ms Shann submitted your motivation was more complex than simply sexual gratification, but rather was a need for approval and connection.
Ms Shann acknowledged that you had pleaded guilty to a rolled-up charge involving four acts of penetration, but she submitted your offending lasted no more than two minutes, gave you no pleasure and was instantly regretted.61On behalf of the prosecution, Mr Devlin submitted that this was serious offending which involved a gross breach of trust. He submitted that you had multiple opportunities to desist from what you were doing. He pointed out that at key junctures you initiated events including sitting on the victim’s lap and kissing him when he came to your home. He acknowledged your early plea of guilty and your significant admissions to police justifying a Doran Discount. However, he pointed to your victim blaming in your record of interview. He accepted Verdins principles were engaged in sentencing you.
62I turn to my own assessment of the gravity of your offending and your moral culpability.
63A teacher sexually penetrating a student is a very serious offence involving a significant breach of trust. Your victim was only 14 years old. You have pleaded guilty to a rolled-up charge encompassing four acts of penetration although it is not in dispute your offending was of very short duration.
64I accept your offending occurred when you, a person of hitherto good character entered a period of considerable despair and were experiencing a period of mental turmoil. I further accept on the basis of the reports of Dr Barth,
Ms Wakefield-Semmens and Mr Burrows that there is some applicability of Verdins limb 1 to moderate your moral culpability to a modest degree.65However, notwithstanding your mental turmoil, you clearly understood what you were doing was wrong and yet you persisted having contact with the victim, which contact you understood was prohibited contact and which was developing into an inappropriate situation involving you and a student and which you must have appreciated was imbued with sexual overtones and sexual possibility. Your offending was objectively serious and your moral culpability high.
66Turning to the applicable sentencing principles.
67General deterrence and denunciation are the primary sentencing considerations in cases involving the sexual abuse of children. The law must be clear that the prohibition of sexual contact with children is absolute and those who transgress this prohibition must expect to be sentenced to imprisonment.
68I accept your counsel's submissions that the sentencing principles of specific deterrence and community protection are not engaged in sentencing you. I accept that you are deeply remorseful and that you have done all you can since your arrest to rehabilitate and reconstruct your life. I accept that your rehabilitation has in fact been demonstrated.
69I take into account that you have suffered extra-curial punishment. You have lost your career, your reputation and your home and this is relevant to the consideration of what constitutes just punishment in your case.
70You have committed a serious crime which is a legitimate topic of public discussion and which will inevitably attract some degree of public opprobrium. However, I accept the publicity in your case which at times to my own observation has been both inflammatory and inaccurate, has caused you some unnecessary distress and I will allow some modest mitigation of sentence in the exercise of my discretion to accommodate that fact.
71I accept that prison will be a very difficult place for you. I accept that Verdins limbs 5 and 6 are engaged. This will be your first time in custody and I accept over and above your mental health difficulties that you will be vulnerable in custody, given your naivety and emotional immaturity.
72Although there was no dispute between the parties that you must be sentenced to a term of imprisonment consisting of a head sentence and a non-parole period, nevertheless this has been a difficult sentencing exercise. On the one hand, it is a case of human frailty and the terrible effects that loneliness and isolation can have on a vulnerable individual. On the other hand, you were an experienced teacher and an intelligent and empathetic person who knew what you were doing was wrong and had multiple opportunities to stop, reflect and avoid the disastrous consequences which have befallen you and the very serious and ongoing harm you have caused your young victim and his family.
73I was provided with some comparable cases on the offence of sexual penetration of a child under 16. These have been of some assistance in sentencing you, but ultimately, I must sentence you on the particular facts and circumstances of your case.
74I take into account the maximum penalty for the offence; I also take into account the standard sentence for the offence. A standard sentence is not the same thing as a mandatory sentence, nor is a standard sentence the primary sentencing consideration or the starting point, from which to add or subtract time. It is but one matter that I must take into consideration in the instinctive synthesis and I do so. I must explain how the sentence I impose relates to the standard sentence and I have in these reasons endeavoured to set out fully all the facts, matters and circumstances I have taken into consideration in sentencing you.
75Given my assessment of the gravity of your offending, your moral culpability and the mitigatory matters upon which you relied, I intend to sentence you to a sentence that is less than a
sstandard sentence. Taking into account all matters that I am required to under the Sentencing Act and matters personal to you, I intend to sentence you as follows. You need to stand now Ms Ali.76On Charge 1, you are convicted and sentenced to two years and six months' imprisonment. Section 11A of the Sentencing Act, directs that unless it is in the interest of justice not to do so, the Court must fix a non-parole period, in this case of at least 60 per cent of the total effective term of imprisonment. In my view, given your demonstrated rehabilitation and the unlikelihood you will reoffend I consider it is not in the interests of justice to impose a non-parole period of at least 60 per cent of the total term of imprisonment. I direct that you serve a non-parole period of one year before you are eligible for parole.
77You have served 13 days of pre-sentence detention, up to and not including today and I direct that we entered into the records of the Court.
78Pursuant to s6AAA of the Sentencing Act had you pleaded not guilty, I would have sentenced you to a total effective sentence of three years and
nine months with a non-parole period of two years.79Pursuant to s34(1)(b) of the Sex Offenders Registration Act, you have pleaded to a single class 1 offence, and the mandatory registration period is 15 years. I make the disposal order sought by the prosecution.
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