Director of Public Prosecutions v Coleiro

[2024] VCC 1144

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

Revised

Not Restricted

Suitable for Publication

AT MELBOURNE

CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR-23-01103

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

VINCENT COLEIRO

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE MAIDMENT
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	28 June 2024
DATE OF SENTENCE:	1 August 2024
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Coleiro
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2024] VCC 1144

REASONS FOR SENTENCE

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Subject:Trial - sentencing

Catchwords:          Sexual assault of child under 16

Legislation Cited: 

Cases Cited:

Sentence:9 months' imprisonment plus 18-month CCO

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Mr N. Batten (plea) Ms A. Royston (sentence)	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Ms J. Swiney (plea) Ms A. Addamo (sentence)	Leanne Warren & Associates

HIS HONOUR: 

1Vincent Coleiro, on indictment no. N11261977.3 you were found guilty by a jury of four charges of sexual assault of a child under the age of 16.  The maximum sentence for that offence is imprisonment for 10 years. 

2The offending in each case is said to have taken place between 18 October 2017 and 17 October 2019.  During that period your victim was aged between 11 years and 13 years.

3The prosecution related to three separate incidents which are covered by the four charges.  The particulars, as spoken to by your victim and to some extent by her younger sister, involved an allegation which the jury found beyond reasonable doubt to have been proved: that you intentionally sexually touched your victim in circumstances where the touching was contrary to community standards. 

4In relation to Charge 1, the touching occurred in the swimming pool at the victim's family home, where you and she were swimming in the pool.  She was in her bathers and you touched her over her bathers in the area of her vagina intentionally.

5In relation to Charge 2, the second incident that she recalled, you intentionally touched her in your car on the way to McDonald's for the purposes of obtaining a meal for her.  You touched her breasts under the puffer jacket that she was wearing at the time.

6In relation to Charges 3 and 4, the incidents both occurred on the same occasion.  The jury found that you intentionally touched your victim, initially over her clothing in the area of her vagina. She indicated to you, according to her evidence, that she had her menstrual period.  She said that it was her second menstrual period and that she was able to remember the occasion because of that.  Having drawn that to your attention you then moved your hand to and touched her breasts intentionally.

7Your victim provided a victim impact statement.  I am not going to read it in full but I am going to refer to part of it where she says:

“This crime has deeply affected me over the last 6 years. This crime took my innocence from me.  I could no longer be a free and happy 12 year old child as the trust I had for Vince and for everyone who I had known and knew since then had been broken and tainted. I have been unable to trust anyone fully including my own boyfriend in fear that if I let my guard down and love and trust blindly I would suffer betrayal just like how Vince betrayed me.”

8I note that that is the likely consequence of behaviour of the kind that the jury found against you in relation to each of these charges.

9Your counsel, Ms Swiney, provided me with a document headed 'Submissions on Plea'.  She notes that you are now 54 years of age, that you come from a good background of migrant origin from Malta, that you have four siblings, two of whom are older than you, and that you currently live with your mother, your sister and your sister's husband.  Each of them has written character references.  I will go to those in a minute.

10At the time of the offending you were living with your victim's mother or at least you were a regular visitor at her family home.  When your victim's mother discovered the allegations against you, she phoned you and remonstrated with you for the offending conduct that had been disclosed to her by your victim.  You denied any such conduct, just as you denied it in your interview with police.

11Your counsel also provided me with a number of character references.  I do not need to go through all of them in detail except to identify their source.  I might say that each of the character references seems to be very well written and carefully considered. 

12The first is dated 16 June 2024 from your older sister, with whom you live.  She speaks of your good character, so far as she is aware, and she says that she found it very uncharacteristic that you committed this offence.  She does not believe that you are a threat to the community or any person.

13Your mother also wrote a reference in which she speaks well of you.  You have, it seems, been a very considerable support to her in recent times, helping her cope with her daily living which is affected by her health issues.

14I note that all of these references speak of the person that they knew and, consistent with the fact that you have no prior convictions of any kind, they have been quite unaware of any characteristics which would undermine the belief they have that you are a person of upstanding character.

15The next reference is that of your nephew, and then a reference from your older sister’s husband.  He indicates that as your brother-in-law he has known you for 14 years.  He says, amongst other things: 'I have discussed his case on several occasions before and after the trial and find his story very credible', the implication being that he discussed it with you. 

16I cannot let that pass without commenting that he was not present during the trial, he was not present to hear the accounts given by your victim or by her younger sister.  Clearly, the jury accepted those accounts.  Those accounts were palpably credible.  The jury had no reasonable doubt that they were giving truthful and accurate accounts of the events relevant to each of the charges of which they found you guilty. 

17I have no doubt at all having heard those two young ladies give their evidence, that they were telling the truth.  Your continuing denials to your brother-in-law, apart from anybody else, do not suggest that you have a skerrick of remorse for your conduct towards your victim.

18The next reference that I note is from Joe Rizzo of the Oven Valley Homes Pty Ltd.  He says in the last paragraph of his reference 'I am aware that Vince has been convicted of an offence that I find to be very out of character and very hard for me to believe'.  He goes on to say this: 'I feel somewhere along the line, there has been some kind of misunderstanding.  I am writing this statement for use in court to vouch for the character of Vince Coleiro'. 

19Again, I cannot let that pass without comment.  Mr Coleiro, there is no misunderstanding.  The jury had no reasonable doubt that those girls were telling the truth.  I have no doubt that those girls were telling the truth.  Had Mr Rizzo or indeed your brother-in-law been in court, they might have taken a different view about your character.  Of course, you have presented well to all of your character referees.

20These types of crimes are typically deliberately concealed from the rest of the world.  In your case, I have no doubt you deliberately concealed that aspect of your character which led you to commit these offences from each of your character referees. Crimes such as yours are rightly described as ‘insidious’.  To the extent that that is not a word that is often used, I refer to the American English Collins Dictionary which defines ‘insidious’ as 'unpleasant or dangerous and develops gradually without being noticed'.

21Other definitions use expressions such as 'sneaky or harmful'.  Other dictionaries suggest synonyms such as 'cunning and devious', 'deceitful', 'stealthy and harmful in an imperceptible fashion'. 

22In other words, your conduct was sneaky.  It was intended to be concealed from adults.  It was intended to ensure that you as an adult had a chance at explaining away your conduct if ever you were challenged.  And that an 11, 12 or 13-year-old girl was less likely to be believed than you as an adult if you were ever challenged in relation to your conduct.

23I pause to say that I give you full credit for the fact that you have no prior convictions, but to the extent that these references suggest that I should accept that you have an underlying unblemished character in every sense is quite contrary to the evidence presented in this case.

24The next reference is from another of your brothers-in-law, married to another of your sisters.  He has known you for 32 years.  He says amongst other things in the reference, 'Vincent Coleiro is a person of good moral character'.  I would suggest that a proper characterisation is that Vincent Coleiro is a person of otherwise good moral character, that is, otherwise than that part of your character which led you to commit these offences.

25He goes on later in the reference to say 'I and his family and his friends assure you [that is me] that Vince Coleiro is a human being with a great heart and a decent person'.  Again I say, no doubt you presented that way to the rest of the world and particularly to those who have provided character references.  I do not suggest that they are other than sincere in what they have said in their reference.  But again, I stress, you deliberately concealed your true character, that which led you to commit these offences, from those people and from the rest of the world. 

26No decent person behaves in the way you behaved to your victim and as the jury have found, and I have no doubt that the jury was right.

27The next reference is from your son and he goes on to paint a picture of the fact that you have been a very good father to him.  I have no doubt at all that you have been a good father, as your son has suggested.

28The next reference is from your other sister.  The next is from Philip Hoenig, who has known you as a neighbour. 

29The next is from an associate in your work, Mr Seliba, dated 17 June 2024.  He says 'Please note that this statement was given as an honest personal and professional opinion of Vince's character throughout years of dealing with him.'  I have no doubt that he has been totally sincere in giving me a picture of how you present and have presented consistently to him. 

30Your counsel described your employment and personal history, including the fact that you had been in your own business for some 25 years.  It seems you have been successful in that business.  No doubt you have considerable talent in your field of architecture for which you are qualified and in which you have practised during that period.

31Your prospects of rehabilitation are good.  I think it is unlikely that you will offend again, having been caught and exposed by the evidence in this case. 

32It cannot be said on your behalf that you are remorseful.  You have no right to any discount in sentence for a plea of guilty.  You have shown no willingness to accept criminal responsibility for your conduct.

33Your counsel has urged me to be careful to sentence you in a way which pays proper regard to the principle of parsimony, that is, to imposing no greater sentence than is necessary in all the circumstances, and in dealing with any cumulation of sentence as between the four charges, to ensure that that does not lead to a sentence that is too stern in all the circumstances.

34She urges me to give you credit for your good character - that is essentially, as I have indicated, your absence of any prior criminal history of any kind.

35She concedes that general deterrence, that is, deterring others from committing offences of this kind, and just punishment are relevant.  I would go on to suggest that general deterrence is of great importance in this case.  Offences of this kind are difficult to detect.  Frequently children, as your victim was, are reluctant to reveal that kind of conduct in circumstances where it may lead to the fracture of a relationship between the perpetrator and their then partner, her mother in this case.  That also contributes to the characterisation of your conduct as insidious.

36You denied this offending strenuously to your victim's mother in circumstances where you expected that you would be believed.  You urged her to accept your version of events, in circumstances where you tried to convince her to believe you rather than her own daughter. 

37Fortunately, her sister was around to back up your victim's version of events, at least in part, having witnessed some of your conduct towards your victim.

38It is necessary for me to give proper regard to just punishment and to denunciation of conduct of this kind, and particularly, as your counsel concedes, to the need to deter others from committing offences of this kind. 

39She notes that this matter could have been dealt with at the Magistrate's Court and you chose, as you had every right to do so, to be tried by a jury.  You have every right to take advantage of that and you are not to be punished for having done so or for having chosen to contest the matters, save to say as I have already indicated, that you cannot now seek any discount for a plea of guilty or for acceptance of criminal responsibility or remorse.

40There are worse, and unfortunately considerably worse, examples of the offences that the jury found you committed.  I need to keep in proportion the nature of the offending, as well as all of the other circumstances to which I have spoken in my sentencing remarks.  Doing the best I can to keep all of those matters in proportion I proceed to sentence you as follows.

41For each of the offences charged on the indictment I convict you and sentence you to imprisonment for six months.  However, I intend to impose some degree of cumulation as between those sentences.  The sentence of six months on Charge 1 will therefore be regarded as the base sentence, and in respect of each of Charges 2, 3 and 4 I order that one month of those sentences be served cumulatively upon one another and upon the sentence of six months on Charge 1. 

42That makes a total effective sentence of imprisonment for nine months.

43I declare that you have accumulated 34 days of pre‑sentence detention which must be reckoned as a period of imprisonment already served under the sentence that I have imposed and deducted administratively.

44Pursuant to s6F of the Sentencing Act 1991 I note that I sentence you as a serious sex offender in respect of Charges 3 and 4.

45In addition to the total effective sentence of nine months' imprisonment, I order that you serve a community correction order for a period of 18 months, subject to your consent.  The order would commence upon the completion of your term of imprisonment and would end 18 months after that date.

46The terms of the order would require you to attend the Wonthaggi Community Correctional Services within two clear working days after completion of your term of imprisonment and would contain a number of other mandatory terms.  I will deal with those in order:

-you must not commit another offence for which you could be imprisoned during the time the order is in force;

-you must comply with any obligation or requirement prescribed by regulation 15 of the Sentencing Regulations, that is, not turning up to appointments under the order drunk or drug-affected, that kind of thing;

-you must report to and receive visits from the Secretary of the Department of Justice or his or her delegate;

-you must let a community corrections officer know within two clear workings days of you changing your address or job;

-you must not leave Victoria without first getting permission to do so from the Secretary of the Department of Justice or his or her delegate; and

-you must obey all lawful instructions from and directions of the Secretary of the Department of Justice or his or her delegate.

47In addition to those mandatory terms, you will be required to perform
200 hours of unpaid community work over the period of 18 months during which the order is in force, as directed by the Regional Manager.

48If you fail to comply with that order, that is the community work order, the Secretary of the Department of Justice or his or her delegate may give you a direction to perform additional hours of unpaid community work in accordance with the Sentencing Act.

49In addition, you will be required to participate in programs and/or courses that address factors relating to the offending as directed by the Regional Manager.

50I order that 50 hours of treatment and rehabilitation satisfactorily undertaken during that period are to be counted as hours of unpaid community work for the purposes of the unpaid community work condition.

51You are required to comply with all of those terms.  If you fail to do so you will be in breach of the order and you potentially can be brought back before this court to be sentenced for breaching the order.  That would put you in jeopardy of a sentence of up to three months' imprisonment, just for breaching the order.

52If you were to breach the order by committing another offence punishable by imprisonment during the period of the order, you would be liable to be brought back before this court, possibly before me, and could be resentenced for the offences that I am sentencing you for today.  That might mean more time in gaol.

53Do you understand the terms of the order, Mr Coleiro?

54OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

55HIS HONOUR:   Are you willing to comply with those terms?

56OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

57HIS HONOUR:  Are you willing to be the subject of the order that I propose to make?

58OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

59HIS HONOUR:  I treat your indication to me as your consent for the purposes of enlivening the order.  In a moment I shall sign the order, which will bring it into force.

60The other matter that I need to deal with is that pursuant to s34 of the Sex Offenders Registration Act, you will be the subject of the terms of the Sex Offenders Registration Act requiring you in respect of the offences of which you were convicted to be subject to those terms for life.

61You will get a document which I have already signed and which indicates the requirement for reporting under the terms of that Act.

62Counsel, is there anything that I have forgotten or need to add?

63COUNSEL:  No, Your Honour.

64HIS HONOUR:  I see Ms Swiney is in court.  Do you want to say anything, Ms Swiney?

65MS SWINEY:  No, Your Honour.

66HIS HONOUR:  Anything I have forgotten?

67MS SWINEY:  No, Your Honour hasn't forgotten anything.

68HIS HONOUR:  Thank you.  The acknowledgement of your obligations under the Sex Offenders Registration Act will be sent to you in gaol and you will be asked to sign that and as I say, a copy of the community correction order will also be provided to you.  I am now about to sign that so you will get a copy of the order in due course.  I have now signed that order.  That is now part of the court record and you will be subject to its terms.

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