Director of Public Prosecutions v Ashbury (a pseudonym)
[2025] VCC 1440
•20 August 2025
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT BENDIGO CRIMINAL JURISDICTION | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| BENJAMIN ASHBURY (A PSEUDONYM) |
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JUDGE: | HER HONOUR JUDGE RIDDELL |
WHERE HELD: | Bendigo |
DATE OF HEARING: | 19 August 2025 |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 20 August 2025 |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Ashbury (a pseudonym) |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2025] VCC 1440 |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject: CRIMINAL LAW --- SENTENCE
Catchwords: Sexual Assault of a Child Under 16 --- Plea of Guilty --- Two Complainants --- Nieces --- Young Victims --- Breach of Trust --- High Moral Culpability --- Significant Childhood Deprivation in Formative Years --- Suffered a Lifetime of Familial Rejection --- PTSD Diagnosis --- Depression --- Anxiety --- Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder --- Serious Physical Health Condition --- Prison more Burdensome --- Condition likely to decline in Custody --- Delay not Attributable to Offender
Legislation Cited:
Cases Cited: Bugmy v The Queen (2013) 249 CLR 571 --- Marrah v The Queen [2014] VSCA 119 --- Director of Public Prosecutions v Drake [2019] VSCA 293---Tori v The King [2024] VSCA 162 --- Boulton v The Queen (2014) 46 VR 308
Sentence: 3 Year Community Correction Order --- Sex Offender Registration 15 years
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director of Public Prosecutions | Mr D. Cordy | Office of Public Prosecutions |
For the Accused | Ms S. Borg | Victoria Legal Aid |
HER HONOUR:
1Benjamin Ashbury,[1] you have pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual assault of a child under 16.
[1] A pseudonym
2Those two charges relate to offending against your nieces, Elenor[2] and Andrea Davis,[3] in the period 2018 to 2020. At the time of the offending Elenor was five years old and Andrea nine years old. At that time, you were aged 28 to 30 years old, and you are now 35.
[2] A pseudonym
[3] A pseudonym
3The mother of Elenor and Andrea is your sister Lisa.[4]
[4] A pseudonym
4For a time from 2016 you were living with your sister and her family after becoming homeless. Initially you stayed in a tent in the backyard for some months before moving into the house. At various times when Lisa and her partner Frank[5] were out you would babysit her four children, Elenor, Andrea, their older sister and younger brother.
[5] A pseudonym
5On two occasions while babysitting you committed offences against Elenor and Andrea.
6The facts founding Charge 1 are that on an occasion between 2018 and 19, while watching a movie in the loungeroom, you took Elenor's hand and forced it over your clothing onto your penis. Holding it against your penis you said, 'Keep touching it.' She told you it felt 'gross.' She says that happened more than once.
7The facts founding Charge 2 are that on a different occasion, in the period 2019 to April 2020, you put your penis into Andrea's underpants against her pubic area. She says that occurred more than once.
8In approximately May 2020, Lisa and her four children moved to Tasmania. Shortly after, Andrea had a conversation with Lisa about a teacher at school who had touched her on the arm, causing Andrea to feel 'weird.' Lisa explained to her that it was not inappropriate touching and that it was only inappropriate if someone touched her on the bottom or something like that. In response Andrea said, 'Like Uncle [Benjamin]', and went on to explain to Lisa that you had touched her.
9The following day Lisa reported the matter to Tasmanian police.
10Shortly after that conversation with Andrea, Lisa spoke to Elenor, at which time Elenor told Lisa that she did not like you because you made her touch your 'doodle.'
11On 15 July 2020, Elenor and Andrea participated in their video recorded police statements in Tasmania.
12On 5 May 2021 those video recordings and the matter was referred to Victoria Police for investigation.
13In a pretext call with your sister in May 2021 you denied any wrongdoing. Those denials were repeated in a record of interview after your arrest several days later. You were ultimately charged in 2022.
14Sexual crimes against children are inherently serious, they strike at the value the community places on the need for care of young children, in particular, by those in positions of responsibility and power over them. That is especially so where the offending involves a breach by someone in a position of care or trust.
15Sentencing courts must send a message expressing the community and the court's denunciation of such behaviour. Sentences must deter others from offending in this way and must seek to protect the community, and in particular, any other child or young person from being abused by a person in a position of trust.
16Courts and the community far better understand the immediate and far-reaching consequences of sexual offending against children. It tends to have an immediate impact on a child's sense of security and can have a long-term impact on various aspects of a victim's life, it tends to affect self-confidence and the fabric of relationships based on trust. Self-doubt, anxiety and body issues are common themes for victims.
17I have received a victim impact statement prepared by your sister, Lisa. She says she often feels overwhelmed and finds it difficult to enjoy life the way she used to. She says as a result of your offending she carries a constant sense of unease and says her relationships and friendships have been strained.
18She describes that 'the offending has had a devastating impact on my children. The trauma they experience is ongoing.' She refers to nightmares, anxiety and struggles with trust. She says their innocence was taken from them and their childhood has been deeply affected. As their mother she says this is heartbreaking to watch. She carries feelings of anger, helplessness and guilt. She is in the process of seeking counselling. She says, 'This has caused lasting damage to our family as a whole. The impact is ongoing and something we will continue to live with for the rest of our lives.'
19Sadly, those are common themes, and I thank her for preparing the victim impact statement. I take the contents into account.
20I must make an assessment of the objective seriousness of your particular offending. That assessment is made by judges to ensure consistency in sentencing, and as such I must make a comparison along the spectrum of offending which is covered by the charge of sexual assault of a child under 16. That offence covers a wide range of factual scenarios.
21The breach of trust is the most significant aggravating feature of your offending. It elevates the seriousness of your offending. It is a breach of trust of both young girls given you are their uncle and were expected to love and care for them. I also take into account that you have breached the trust of their siblings who thought you were present to care for them all. And it is a breach of trust of your sister Lisa who had faith that you would protect and care for her girls in her absence. In essence, it is also a breach of trust of your wider family.
22Next, your offending is aggravated by the fact there are two different victims.
23In relation to Charge 1, Elenor was a five-year-old. Her very young age, and the significant age gap between you, are both important aggravating features.
24I accept, however, that the physical act involved reflects a lower end offence involving reasonably brief touching of you rather than of her, and occurring over clothing.
25In relation to Charge 2 regarding Andrea, she was also a young girl aged nine. Sexual offending against children at that age when they are heading towards puberty has the capacity to create confusion and a sense of insecurity in both themselves, and in others.
26That offence is a more serious offence involving the touching of your penis onto her pubic area. I accept the contact was reasonably brief, however, it was no doubt confronting for her to be touched in that way.
27The prosecution opening indicates that both children said the offending against them happened more than once. I understand, as submitted by prosecuting counsel, that this removes any contention that these are two isolated incidents or aberrations. However, beyond saying that, it is not possible to quantify or provide any detail about any other events. Ultimately, I accept I must sentence you for the two offences on the indictment.
28I accept that there are none of the other common aggravating features such as threats or additional violence or coercion, nor was there any endeavour to buy or ensure their silence. I accept that the offending was not premeditated but situational.
29Overall, your moral culpability is high.
30I do not have any information from you about why you committed the offences, nor have you offered any explanation or demonstrated any insight. You have not displayed any remorse for your offending.
31Turning to your personal circumstances.
32Your formative years were marred by abandonment and neglect, displacement, moving from one parent to another, to your grandparents and to foster care. They are marred by your exposure to violence; being maltreated physically yourself, including being repeatedly chained to a tree and left overnight; being mistreated by your father's new partner and by repeated displacement and homelessness. As a 13-year-old you lived in a storm water drain for the better part of a year.
33Documentation from various sources confirms that at various times recently you have been living in a tent in the bush. You have couch surfed and been homeless.
34Your family are Aboriginal, of the Windowinda First Nations Group in Queensland. You had early connection with community, learning the cultural and artistic ways of your people, however, years of displacement has interrupted your connection. Nonetheless, you still identify as Aboriginal and with your community.
35You have been engaged with the Bendigo and District Aboriginal Co-operative (BDAC) for a number of years and have two support workers who have been present throughout these proceedings. Those workers and that organisation assist you with health and social services.
36When you were five years old your mother left, taking your siblings but leaving you and a much older brother. You have memories of hanging onto the car as she drove away, and of your father on his knees for hours crying out her name. The following day he overdosed on pills, and you found him gargling and spewing froth on the couch. You had to go and get help by riding your bike two kilometres away to find your brother. Your brother later beat you because you were excited to see an ambulance at the house.
37You were surrendered to foster care at age six and your non-indigenous foster mother treated you very poorly, including telling you your father was dead. She also encouraged her son to bully and beat you. Eventually your sister Lisa was placed with you as your mother had put all of your siblings into foster care.
38When you were about eight your father unexpectedly arrived and took you and your sister home. You lived with him for two years before moving to his parents, your paternal grandparents. Your grandmother, apparently because you reminded her of a son she did not like, did not treat you well. That included chaining you to a tree each night. Sometimes your grandfather would release you.
39At age 10 you moved to live with your father and his new partner. She would regularly physically abuse you, punching, slapping and chasing you. You told your counsel she made you sleep outside most nights like a dog. She ultimately kicked you out at age 12 to 13 where you ended up living in a drain and eating out of bins or taking handouts from the Uniting Church. You say it was a frightening time given your young age and the drug addicts and older men around you.
40At age 16 or 17 you met your best friend, whose family took you in for 18 months. You say he was the first and only person who cared about you. Tragically, he died on Christmas Eve when you were about 26 years old. He was killed by a car working on a property where he was working to earn money to support you. You still blame yourself for his death and suffer guilt.
41At age 21 you attempted suicide by hanging, however, your two brothers managed to take you down.
42You lived at a friend's in north Bendigo on and off for eight years.
43Unsurprisingly, against that background your education is very limited. You report being bullied at school on account of your family's poverty.
44There is no dispute that your history enlivens the principles enunciated by the High Court in The Queen v Bugmy[6]. Those principles arise where an offender has suffered significant deprivation in their childhood and formative years. As stated by the Court of Appeal in Marrah v The Queen[7]:
'Circumstances of deprivation, abuse and other social disadvantage occurring during an offender's formative years are more than matters of historical significance to the administration of justice. The effects of social disadvantage do not generally diminish with the passage of time and are likely to have profound and lasting consequences.'
[6]Bugmy v The Queen (2013) 249 CLR 571
[7]Marrah v The Queen [2014] VSCA 119
45The consequence of a finding that Bugmy is applicable is that your subjective culpability cannot be equated with a person who committed the same offences but had the advantage of a normal, stable and regular home environment. That is a reflection of the principle of equal justice. Though like must be treated as like, where there are differences, they should be recognised.
46The Victorian Court of Appeal in DPP v Drake[8] stated:
'It is the mark of a humane society that the moral judgment expressed through sentencing should take into account of the lifelong damage that may result from exposure to violence or abuse or parental neglect in an offender's formative years. Childhood trauma can permanently damage and seriously distort a person's view of the world around them and their understanding of social norms.'
[8]Director of Public Prosecutions v Drake [2019] VSCA 293
47That finding of significant deprivation is a matter which does not diminish with time, and which must be given full weight in sentencing.
48I accept that the experiences of your childhood reflect a background of considerable social deprivation such as to enliven those principles, and in turn, reduce your moral culpability.
49It is also unsurprising against that background that you have a number of mental health issues. Documentation I have received dated 2020 confirms your diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder since childhood, depression, anxiety, and you also have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.
50Austin Health medical records confirm your attempted suicide, and that as at 2020 you were struggling to think of reasons to keep going with your life. You have had regular suicidal ideation and at that time you were presenting as very low. That report also states that you have good insight into your mental health issues. There were no reported drug issues recorded and consistent with that report I have received an assessment report today which confirms that you have no drug or alcohol issues.
51A 2020 letter from your general practitioner reiterates those diagnoses, stating that your PTSD symptoms were particularly acute at that time as a result of your social situation including current homelessness, financial hardship and lack of employment. You had recently commenced the antidepressant medication Sertraline which you remain on to the present time, and that has had some positive benefit.
52Your engagement with BDAC has included access to a counsellor as part of an employment pathway. I have been given information about your counsellor, who describes you as an intelligent, respectful and sensitive person who has suffered a lifetime of familial rejection. He confirms that when he met you, you were living in a makeshift tent on the outskirts of Bendigo despite the fact you had recently had open heart surgery. You were walking to appointments. He refers to the extreme trauma in your background.
53It is clear that you have not had adequate psychological care to deal with your childhood and your grief stemming from the death of your best friend.
54In addition to your mental health you have a serious physical health condition, having had open heart surgery in August 2024. The material from Austin Health and Bendigo Health confirms that in April 2023 you presented to Bendigo Emergency Department having had a heart attack. At that time, you declined a coronary angiogram and discharged yourself the following day.
55You re-presented, however, in January 2024 in the context of daily chest pain with exertion. That led to investigation, the conclusion of which was that you were suffering severe triple vessel disease on the ischemic cardiomyopathy, along with hypercholesterolemia, hypertension and obesity. In short, three heart vessels were blocked. Your left anterior descending artery and left circumflex artery showed severe and moderate disease respectively, while your right coronary artery was almost totally occluded. There is a strong family history including that your mother had cardiac bypass surgery in her 40s.
56A period of investigation followed and at a case conference in February 2024, where 13 medical specialists along with four nursing staff were in attendance to review your case, the decision was made to wait for surgery by way of a coronary artery bypass graft. You were placed on various medications including blood thinners and nitrates for angina or chest pain, and you were seen variously at the Cardiology Outpatient Clinic for review.
57A report from August 2024 confirmed you developed pneumonia which delayed any surgery. Ultimately, on 14 August 2024 you had open heart surgery. You are still experiencing the after-effects of that procedure. Reports indicate that the surgery was successful, although the operation report notes that the long-term patency of various grafts is uncertain.
58The later reports confirm you experience ongoing pain and difficulty. That has been evident in this court a number of times when your matter has needed to be adjourned on account of your ill-health.
59A letter from your cardiologist in February 2025 confirms residual chest pain and your inability to travel. As recently as last week your trial was adjourned for a day so that you could attend the emergency department of Bendigo Health.
60Significantly, your cardiologist confirms that you are not a candidate for future surgery, stating: 'This gentleman has diffuse and severe coronary artery involvement of small calibre targets going all the way through, and I will definitely not consider him for any further surgical coronary revascularisation in the long term. He will need aggressive secondary prevention measures going forward.' I understand that to be due to the severity of your original condition.
61In relation to ongoing treatment, I understand you have recommendations that you undergo physiotherapy and that you are required to have monthly angiograms.
62Ms Borg and Mr Barrera submit that your cardiac condition means prison will weigh more heavily on you, and that your condition is likely to decline in custody.
63I can readily accept that prison would be more burdensome for you as opposed to someone without your cardiac condition. You suffer daily pain which increases on exertion and not infrequently require follow-up attention.
64Although I accept that appropriate steps would be taken to ensure your physical health in custody, I appreciate that would not be with your general practitioner or the specialists who you know and who have both treated you.
65In addition, I must take into account that you would be in prison for the first time and that you are also a person with the mental health difficulties I have described. And, as your history bears out, you have limited help-seeking capacity in relation to your health.
66It is that constellation of factors which leads me to conclude that your health is likely to decline in the custodial setting, despite the best efforts of those who would be involved in your care.
67In relation to your mental health, I also conclude that imprisonment would be more burdensome, and that there is likely to be a decline. You have PTSD as a result of the violence you experienced through your formative years. Prisons are hostile and stressful environments where those experiences may be reactivated, in particular for someone unfamiliar with the territory.
68I take those matters into account and accept the defence submissions in that regard.
69I also take into account the delay in bringing this matter to a conclusion. The VAREs of Elenor and Andrea were conducted in July 2020, in mid-Covid. The VAREs were not forwarded to police for almost a year, I understand likely at a time when Lisa and the children returned to Victoria.
70In May 2021 she conducted the pretext call with you and soon after you participated in the record of interview. At that time, allegations related to Elenor and Andrea, their older sister Roxy[9] was interviewed at a VARE in July 2020. She was clear that there had been no sexual offending against her.
[9] A pseudonym
71You were not charged for over a year until October 2022. It is worth being reminded that during 2020 and 2021, Covid was ongoing and there were numerous delays to criminal proceedings both pre and post charge. The only explanation offered for the delays to that stage is that the impact of Covid may have played a part. I accept that submission.
72Your matter reached the County Court in February 2023. A s198A hearing, including of your sister Lisa Ashbury and two police officers, was conducted in March 2023. A timetable was set to deal with numerous s32 applications and subpoena releases.
73As both parties agreed during this hearing, the landscape of these proceedings has changed multiple times. Changes of direction have occurred due to the ongoing provision of material upon subpoena, due to your health issues and due to changes to the complexion of any trial.
74In April 2024 special hearings were listed to be heard in August and a trial in November. Your open-heart surgery in August 2024 meant all hearings were vacated. In the meantime, in July 2024, your niece Roxy made a VARE outlining allegations against you. Those had not previously been made. That resulted in those allegations being joined to the existing case and new dates set including a trial for February 2025.
75At that time a number of pre-trial rulings were made by other judges. Those rulings again changed the nature of the proceedings. The special hearings proceeded in mid-February 2025. The matter was then listed for trial and ultimately came before me this month. A defence tendency notice was filed by that stage, and I gave a ruling admitting various materials in relation to Roxy which again changed the complexion of the trial.
76The trial commenced, however, an opening drafted by a previous prosecutor did not reflect a number of rulings which excluded allegations that were not proceeding. The jury was discharged. A second jury was empanelled but was later also discharged due to materials contained in a VARE.
77It was after that time that resolution discussions occurred, and a sentence indication hearing was sought. That proceeded yesterday.
78That brief chronology is sufficient to understand there have been numerous delays in this case. None are attributable to you. Higher courts have confirmed that delay is a significant matter in mitigation.
79Recently, in Tori v The King[10] where there was a delay of three years between a record of interview and being charged, the Court of Appeal again reiterated the principles stemming from a number of earlier cases, namely, that there are twin considerations of fairness and rehabilitation in circumstances of delay.
[10]Tori v The King [2024] VSCA 162
80First, where serious charges hang over a person for a lengthy period of time thereby keeping an accused in a state of suspense as to what will happen to him or her, as a matter of fairness that should be reflected in sentence. It is indeed very difficult for a person to move forward with their life in those circumstances.
81In your case you have known of these allegations for over four-and-a-half years and have been on bail for a significant period.
82The second consideration is that as the Court of Appeal stated:
'Where there has been a relatively lengthy process of rehabilitation since the offending, being a process in which the community has a vested interest, the sentence should not jeopardise the continued development of this process but should be tailored to ensure as much as possible that the offender has the opportunity to complete the process of rehabilitation.'
83Your rehabilitation prospects in my view are very good. I reached that conclusion on account of the fact that you have no prior history of sexual offending. Any prior history you have is irrelevant to my task. Further, you have no subsequent offending of any kind. That means that your last offending on record was dealt with in court in 2011 by way of a seven-month CCO which you successfully completed despite the obvious challenges of homelessness, and your last offending reflected in these charges is now five to seven years ago.
84In my assessment you are a low risk of sexually reoffending. The situation you were in at the time of the offending has passed and you are unlikely to be in a similar situation in future. I note you have not breached any bail conditions, nor the intervention order which was taken out at the instance of police and remains in place.
85You have ongoing support from your two case workers from BDAC who are intimately aware of these offences and proceedings, and through BDAC you have a relationship with an employment agency and counsellor.
86In addition, you now have stable accommodation with your brother where you have lived throughout the bail period, and you have resumed a relationship with your mother who provides some support to you.
87In addition, you have now accepted responsibility for this offending by your plea of guilty.
88I accept that in all of those circumstances the need for specific deterrence is moderated, along with the need to impose a sentence directed at community protection.
89Although your plea has been entered at a stage during your trial and after child witnesses have been cross-examined, it is clear to me that this is a plea offered to charges which have been agreed upon for the first time. Although I cannot conclude your plea of guilty is an expression of remorse, it does provide vindication for your sister and her daughters and is important in that respect.
90As the charges have resolved the matter could have been dealt with in the Magistrates' Court. In that jurisdiction the standard sentence would not have applied and there would have been jurisdictional limits on sentence. The standard sentence does apply here, and I have taken it into account. As with the maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment, the standard sentence is a guidepost in sentencing.
91Ms Borg and Mr Barrera also rely on the fact that you have been subject to retributive attack and abuse on account of these matters. The prosecution accepts that to be so and note that in the community in which you reside it is unlikely those will stop immediately.
92In particular, this court dealt with an offender who faced indictable charges of aggravated burglary, attempted aggravated burglary and threat to kill relating to three separate incidences where he attended at your home, usually in the early hours of the night, and verbally abused and made threats to you on account of these matters.
93The law is not settled with regards to whether extra curial punishment may be taken into account in mitigation of sentence. The better view seems to be that it can given not everyone who commits a crime is subject to the additional public scorn and retribution which you have suffered. To the extent that I am able, I take it into account.
94Defence counsel provided me with a range of comparative cases for my assistance. I, too, have had regard to the sentencing summaries on the Judicial College of Victoria website and to sentencing statistics for offending of this kind. Statistics of course have limitations. I also note given these charges could have been dealt with in the Magistrates' Court, the statistics do not reflect that jurisdiction.
95I note that where the offence is a standard sentence offence, I must only have regard to other sentences imposed on standard sentence offences. A number of cases provided by defence fit that category. I have, therefore, had regard to current sentencing practices for this offending.
96The fact that I must only have regard to standard sentences does not limit the matters I am otherwise required to or permitted to consider in determining the appropriate sentence for a standard sentence offence. And nor is it intended to affect the approach to sentencing known as the instinctive synthesis.
97As always, when looking at other cases, there are differences and similarities between offending and the personal circumstances of an offender. Ultimately, I am required to impose a just sentence in all the circumstances, and that is what I have endeavoured to do.
98On your behalf, Ms Borg and Mr Barrera submit that all sentencing considerations could be met by way of a lengthy community correction order including punitive conditions and conditions aimed at your rehabilitation.
99Mr Cordy on behalf of the prosecution fairly acknowledged your serious physical health condition, implicitly accepted the applicability of the Bugmy principles and resulting PTSD and mental health issues. Further, that there will be a burden of imprisonment given those features. He also agreed that there was significant value in this plea despite it coming when it has. It has saved witnesses from the witness box, including your sister, who was likely to have to give evidence about a range of difficult topics including the upbringing of the children, previous allegations made, and involvement of Child Protection.
100As a result of those matters, Mr Cordy on behalf of the prosecution submitted that a community Correction was within range, however, given the seriousness of the sexual offending, and indeed of any sexual offending against children, submitted that a community correction order in combination with a term of imprisonment was warranted.
101I have given consideration to those options, noting that imprisonment must be a sentence of last resort.
102On account of the relative objective gravity of the offending, your history enlivening Bugmy, your ongoing mental health struggle and confirmed diagnosis of PTSD, the fact you have never been in custody before, your now lifelong cardiac condition, the additional burden of your mental and physical health in custody and likely deterioration of both, the lengthy delay in finalising this matter and your plea of guilty, I have concluded that a community correction order without imprisonment is the appropriate sentence here. In my view that will continue the path of rehabilitation that you are already on.
103I reach that conclusion noting the Court of Appeal's comments in Boulton[11] to the effect that a CCO can meet all sentencing needs, even for serious offending. Any CCO carries with it restrictions on a person's movement, the requirement of ongoing supervision, as well as rehabilitative measures.
[11]Boulton v The Queen (2014) 46 VR 308
104I note also that the time limit on a term of imprisonment, in combination with a CCO, is 12 months. You would not receive treatment in that time given sex offender programs require an 18-month period. On a CCO I can impose a range of conditions including conditions aimed at addressing your offending behaviour.
105I have had you assessed to determine your suitability, and I have received a report confirming that is so.
106If you could stand, Mr Ashbury, please.
107For those reasons, Mr Ashbury, the sentence I impose on you is as follows:
108On Charges 1 and 2 you are convicted, and I impose a community correction order for three years.
109The conditions of that order are as follows:
·You are to be under supervision;
·You are to perform 250 hours of unpaid community work;
·You are to undergo assessment and treatment as directed in relation to your mental health;
·You are to undergo assessment and treatment for programs aimed at your offending behaviour;
·You are to undergo assessment and treatment and participate in programs aimed at cultural connection and directed at programs securing employment.
110I make allowance for up to 100 hours of community work to be offset as hours undertaken in treatment.
111Mr Ashbury, I cannot impose that order without your agreement to undertake that order. Before I ask you if you agree to undertake it, I need to make plain that if you breach the order, you would be brought back to me and I would be required to consider re-sentencing you on these offences that are before me. A breach could be either by way of further offending or by not complying with the conditions that I have outlined.
112So, just to repeat the conditions, it will be a three-year order, you are to be under supervision, you are to undertake 250 hours of unpaid work, up to 100 hours of unpaid work can be taken by way of treatment. The treatment that I have ordered includes mental health treatment, offence-behaviour treatment, engagement in cultural programs and programs directed at employment.
113Do you understand those conditions I have outlined.
114ACCUSED: Yes.
115HER HONOUR: And do you agree to undertake the order.
116ACCUSED: Yes, I do.
117HER HONOUR: All right, thanks. Have a seat - sorry, before you sit down, in relation to sex offender registration - so as a result of the fact that these offences are Class 2 offences, and that there are two such offences committed against children, you will be subject to sex offender registration. The mandatory period of that registration is 15 years. You will be provided with some documentation in a moment. It's a matter for you whether you sign that to indicate that you've received that paperwork.
118Finally, but for your plea of guilty, the sentence I would have imposed on these two charges only would have been a total effective sentence of three years' imprisonment with a non-parole period of 18 months' imprisonment.
119Have a seat there, the order will be printed out and you will be asked to sign it. Are there any matters to raise counsel.
120MR CORDY: No, Your Honour.
121MS BORG: No, Your Honour, thank you.
122HER HONOUR: All right, thanks. And we've just got the sex offender registration paperwork coming. Mr Ashbury, you understand that your signature on that community correction order document is your promise that you will undertake that order as I have described.
123ACCUSED: Yes.
124HER HONOUR: All right.
125MS BORG: Your Honour, I have briefly explained it to him, but we will go through it with him page-by-page when we finish here.
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