Director of Public Prosecutions v De Geus

[2014] VCC 2006

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA Revised
Not Restricted
Suitable for Publication

AT LATROBE VALLEY
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR -12-01704

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

RONALD JAMES DE GEUS

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE CARMODY
WHERE HELD:	Latrobe Valley
DATE OF HEARING:	27 November 2014
DATE OF SENTENCE:	28 November 2014
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v De Geus
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2014] VCC 2006

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:
Catchwords:
Legislation Cited:
Cases Cited:
Sentence:

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Mr D. Cordy
For the Accused	Mr B. Kranswick

HIS HONOUR:

1Ronald James De Geus, on 27 November 2014, you pleaded guilty to three charges in this court. 

2Charge 1, obtaining payment for sexual services provided by a child.  This offence has a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment. 

3Charge 2, living off the earnings of sex work.  This offence has a maximum penalty of five year imprisonment. and

4Charge 3, possession of a drug of dependence, namely cannabis L, and I was told this was a small quantity.  The maximum penalty for that is five penalty units. 

The offending

5You had met the child sex worker, and I will refer to her as "CC" for the rest of this sentence, when you were in Latrobe Valley Hospital, being treated for seizure type symptoms.  She was 16 years old.  You formed an intimate relationship with her.  At the time of the offending in April 2014, you have known CC for about two months.

6On Wednesday 9 April 2014, CC attended at your residence and stayed the night.  Due to CC not returning to her residence, she was subsequently listed as a missing person.  Police resources were then used in an attempt to locate her. 

7On Thursday 10 April, CC offered you $100 to accompany her to Scott Street in Dandenong, which is apparently a high area of street prostitution, for the purpose of watching over her while she engaged in sex work activities.  You agreed to that arrangement. 

8At about 7.43 pm, you and CC attended Morwell train station and caught the train to Dandenong train station.  At around about quarter to ten on that night, you and CC arrived at Dandenong train station.  CC and you then walked from the train station to Scott Street in Dandenong.  Once you had arrived at Scott Street, you remained a few metres from CC and watched her as she entered three vehicles.  CC told you that in one of the vehicles she had entered into, that she had performed oral sex on a male and had received $40 for that service. 

9On 14 April 2014, CC again contacted you on your mobile phone and offered you $100 to accompany her to Scott Street, Dandenong, for the purpose of watching over her again while she engaged in sex work activities.  You agreed to that arrangement.  You then caught a bus to Morwell train station, where you met CC.  You and CC then caught the train to Dandenong. 

10Again at about quarter to ten, CC and yourself had arrived at the Dandenong train station.  You then together walked down to Scott Street.  CC has then loitered on the street for the purpose of engaging sex work.  You have remained in Scott Street, but only a few metres away from her.  You then observed CC going to seven or eight different vehicles, where she engaged in sex work activities. 

11At about 11 pm, CC has then been listed as a missing person by the Wesley Mission.  Police resources again were used in an attempt to locate her.

12You and CC have then attended at the Nu Hotel on Scott Street in Dandenong, where CC has given you money she obtained from sex work, to buy alcohol and to play on the pokie machines. 

13

CC and yourself have then gone into Halal's Pizza in Dandenong, where

CC has used money she obtained from the sex work to purchase you a pizza.  CC and you have then returned to the Nu Hotel, where CC has obtained cannabis from an unknown male.  CC has purchased the cannabis from the money she obtained from sex work and you and CC had used the cannabis. 

14CC and yourself have then attended Coles, Princess Highway in Dandenong, where CC purchased for you some chips and soft drinks, which was money she had made from her sex work activities. 

15On 15 April 2014, early in the morning, CC and yourself have then attended the Dandenong railway station.  You then caught the train back to Morwell.  CC and yourself then caught a taxi from the Morwell railway station to your residence.  CC had paid for the taxi out of her earnings from sex work.  You then received $50 as payment for accompanying CC to Dandenong. 

16Throughout the day, CC had started to experience severe stomach pains.  You have then taken CC to your sister-in-law's place in Churchill.  In the afternoon, paramedics were called to your sister-in-law's place, in response to CC being ill.  The paramedics arrived and observed CC and yourself present.  CC then stated to the paramedics that she was with you and had attended Dandenong on 14 April 2014.  You went with the paramedics and CC, while CC was conveyed to the Latrobe Regional Hospital in Traralgon. 

17On Wednesday 16 April 2014, police attended the Latrobe Regional Hospital and spoke with CC.  CC denied engaging in sex work activities and stated she had been residing with you at your residence. 

18On 16 April 2014, in the morning, police attended at your premises to investigate the whereabouts of CC.  You made admissions to police about being with CC on the 10 and 14 April while she prostituted herself, and receiving payment for accompanying her.  You were arrested and conveyed to the Morwell Police Station.  A digital recorded record of interview was conducted between yourself and the police, in which you made full admissions. 

19

You have fully co-operated with the police in this investigation.  You have made full admissions in your record of interview, which is the basis of the prosecution against you.  A fair reading of your record of interview would suggest a fair bit of naivety of your part.  You complied with the wishes and requests of CC.  Your concern for her welfare, on one level at least, is borne out by your attendance with her in the ambulance and to the hospital on

16 April 2014.

20There has been no committal in this case and you have pleaded guilty at the earliest time.  Your admissions and plea of guilty in this case are significant, given the nature of the charges and the denial by CC that she was engaged in prostitution activities. 

21I turn to your personal circumstances.  I have been told a little of your personal circumstances by your counsel.  You are 33 years old.  You have shared custody of two children, aged 12 and eight.  I understand your custody rights, as I describe them, are limited to one hour's supervised access once a fortnight. 

22You were educated to Year 10 level at Mirboo North.  You have worked in a factory and a number of farm labour type positions.  It was submitted that due to the mine fires here in Morwell, you were hospitalised earlier this year.  That is where you met CC.  You were prescribed Valium, but no longer take that medication.  You are currently on a Newstart benefit or $480 a fortnight.  You have rental commitments of $330 a fortnight.  You have not worked for a couple of years and your financial position is parlous. 

23You have admitted three prior court appearances.  Two of the appearances were in 1999.  On both occasions you were not convicted.  Neither sets of offences have any relevance to the offending in this instance.  In 2006, you last attended court for a charge of enter a place likely to cause a breach of the peace.  You were placed on a six month good behaviour bond without conviction.  You have got to the age of 33 years old without conviction. 

24Unsurprisingly there is no victim impact statement in this case.  The offences are objectively serious, but a closer analysis places your behaviour at the lowest end of such offending.  In a strange way, you were protective of CC. 

25I will now turn to sentencing considerations.  The first consideration is that you have pleaded guilty to this offence at the earliest possible time.  It is difficult to properly assess the direct result of your offending.  In any event, you have pleaded guilty, you have pleaded guilty at an early stage.  The plea was indicated before any committal proceedings.  Your plea of guilty has a utilitarian value of allowing the orderly and effective administration of justice.  It gives a certainty of outcome and a resolution of the substantive issues raised by your offending.  Your plea also allows for the preservation of court and police resources to deal with other matters and your plea vindicates the public confidence in the legal process set up to protect the community.  A plea of guilty to this charge indicates and demonstrates your remorse for these offences.  Your plea is clear acknowledgement by you that you accept responsibility for your criminal behaviour.  Your plea also recognises you are willing to facilitate the course of justice in the community. 

26The basic purpose for which a court may impose a sentence of imprisonment are just punishment, deterrence, both specific and general, rehabilitation, denunciation of your actions and the protection of the community.  In sentencing you, I must have regard to a range of factors such as the seriousness of your offence, your culpability for it and your personal circumstances.  I am required to balance the interests of the community in denouncing your criminal conduct with the interests of the community and to ensure as far as possible that you as an offender are rehabilitated and reintegrated into society. 

27The offences that you have committed are serious.  The Parliament has set down a maximum penalty in respect to Charge 1 of 15 years' imprisonment.  That is a clear indication of the community's view of how seriously this type of offence is to be considered.  The prosecutor fairly conceded that your particular offending in this case is at the very low end of possible charges in this range.  You have pleaded to two charges of rolled up offences between 10 April 2014 and 15 April 2014.  The summary of your offending is that you have responded to a request from a young girl for protection while she engaged in street prostitution in Dandenong.  Your personal gain was $50 plus some money gambled on the pokies, some fast food and drink, a small quantity of marijuana to share and a taxi ride.  The commercial aspect of this offending for you is minimal and your offending is more in the category of protecting someone you care for while she is engaged in street prostitution.

28I take into account your prior court appearances have all been dealt with by non-conviction disposition and are not of relevant offending to these charges.  I regard your prospects of rehabilitation as good and your likelihood of reoffending is low.  It was conceded by the prosecutor that a community based disposition was not out of the sentencing range.  That is a proper and an appropriate concession to make in this case.  You have been favourably assessed for a CCO.  Would you stand, please?

29On Charge 1 and 2, you are convicted, placed on a community corrections order for a period of two years commencing this day.  The conditions of the community corrections order are as follows:  (1) You are to perform 100 hours of unpaid community work; (2) You are to engage in drug and alcohol assessment and treatment as directed by the Offices of Corrections; (3) You are to take part in a program to reduce offending as directed by the Offices of Corrections; and you are to attend at the Morwell Community Corrections Office at 25 Ann Street in Morwell, Victoria within two working days or before 4 pm on 2 December, next Tuesday. 

30On Charge 3, you are convicted and discharged pursuant to s.73 of the Sentencing Act.  I make a s.464ZF order, that is that the police can take a sample from you and I will just explain to you what that means.  The police, I have made this order and they can take a scraping from inside your mouth in order to obtain a forensic sample order.  If you do not cooperate with them, they can use reasonable force to actually obtain that sample.  Do you understand that?

31OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

32HIS HONOUR:  Thank you.  In respect to the charges, the first two charges, I declare under s.6AAA that but for your plea of guilty, I would have imprisoned you for six months' imprisonment. 

33MR CORDY:  As Your Honour pleases.

34HIS HONOUR:  Does that cover everything?

35MR CORDY:  Yes, it does, Your Honour.

36HIS HONOUR:  Thank you.  Thanks.  Thanks, Mr De Geus.  You can step out of there.  Sorry, you've got to sign this order.  You've got to sign this corrections order.  I'll hand down those 464 orders, Mr - - -

37MR CORDY:  Thank you, Your Honour.

38HIS HONOUR:  - - - Cordy.  Thank you.  Thanks.  11 o'clock on Monday morning.

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