Director of Public Prosecutions v Henson (a pseudonym)

[2022] VCC 1066

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

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

PARKER HENSON (A PSEUDONYM)

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE HIGHAM
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	24 June 2022 and 4 July 2022
DATE OF SENTENCE:	13 July 2022
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Henson (a pseudonym)
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2022] VCC 1066

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:  CRIMINAL LAW

Catchwords:  Sentence – indecent act with a child under the age of 16 – sexual penetration with a child under the age of 16 – sexual assault of a child under the age of 16 – Guilty verdict at trial

Legislation Cited:           Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) ss 5(1), 18(4)
  Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004 (Vic)
Sentence:  Term of Imprisonment of 8 years and 10 months
  Non-Parole Period of 6 years and 3 months

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Ms B. Goding	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Mr D. Langton	Stary Norton Halphen

HIS HONOUR:

1Parker Henson[1], on 29 March 2022, following a trial, you were found guilty by a jury of two charges of indecent act with a child under the age of 16 (Charges 1 and 2), for which the maximum penalty is a term of imprisonment of 10 years, one charge of sexual penetration with a child under the age of 16 (Charge 4), for which the maximum penalty is a term of imprisonment of 15 years, and three charges of sexual assault of a child under the age of 16 (Charges 5, 6 and 7), for which the maximum penalty is a term of imprisonment of 10 years.

[1]A pseudonym.

2Sexual assault of a child under 16 is a standard sentence offence and the standard sentence is a term of imprisonment of four years.

3In brief, the circumstances of your offending were as follows.

4Your offending took place between 2016 and 2019 in your bedroom in Craigieburn[2], where you were then living. Your three victims were Sally McCollum[3], aged between 12 and 13 at the time of the offending, Milly Rogerson[4], aged between 11 and 12, and Alison Perrin[5], aged 11.

[2]Location de-identified.

[3]A pseudonym.

[4]A pseudonym.

[5]A pseudonym.

5Sally and Alison were your nieces and lived at the Craigieburn home. Milly was their best friend who lived nearby. Milly would often spend time at your house, including staying overnight for sleepovers with Sally and Alison. Also living at the Craigieburn address was your sister Leah Henson[6] (the mother of Sally and Alison), Leah’s ex-partner Michael Dadic[7] and their young daughters, Mia[8] and Quin[9], and your father, Harold Henson[10]. Others also stayed at the property from time to time.

[6]A pseudonym.

[7]A pseudonym.

[8]A pseudonym.

[9]A pseudonym.

[10]A pseudonym.

6As can be seen, the property was crowded and every room had been converted into a combined bedroom and living space for one or more of the many occupants of the premises.

7Leah, it seemed, struggled with parenting and in late 2018 Sally moved to live with David Perrin[11], his wife and their two children. David was Leah’s former partner and the biological father of Alison. In 2019, Alison also moved to live with the Perrin family and her sister Sally. Sally and Alison continued to stay with their mother at the Craigieburn address on occasion, during which visits Milly would also spend time at the house.

[11]A pseudonym.

8When you were in the house, you spent all of your time in your bedroom, which was located on the ground floor. The three complainants would often join you there. You allowed them to watch movies, play games on your various devices and, in short, be indulged with sweets and other treats. You would also play physical games with them, give them massages, tickles and the like. Your room was for them a refuge; a haven where they got the attention that they so craved and where they were allowed to play. It was in your bedroom that all of the offending took place.

9On one occasion, Milly and Sally were in your bedroom playing on your computer. You lay on your bed and exposed your penis, wrapped a towel and plastic bag around it and repeatedly told Milly to touch it.  Eventually Milly placed her hand on the plastic bag for a brief period of time, before pulling her hand away. Although Sally was present in the room, Milly was not sure if Sally saw what you had done (Charge 1).

10On another occasion, Sally had fallen asleep whilst watching a movie on your bed. Sally then woke up in the night to find you lying next to her on the bed. You then began massaging her back. You then moved your hand up her T-shirt and rubbed her breasts (Charge 2).

11On a later occasion after Sally arrived home from school, she entered your bedroom to use your phone. As she played on your phone, you lay on your bed. She left briefly to have dinner and when she returned you invited her to lie in bed with you. This she did and continued using your phone. You then rolled on top of her as she lay on her back, removed your trousers and Sally's underwear and shorts which she had been wearing under her school uniform, and then inserted your penis into her vagina. After a minute, you rolled off Sally and she got up and left your room (Charge 4). During this act of penetration, you did not use a condom.

12On 3 February 2019, Sally and Alison were staying with their mother over the weekend and Milly was visiting. Milly and Alison were in your bedroom watching a movie in your bed when you placed a blanket over Alison. You tried to touch Milly's back and she moved away from you. You then started massaging Alison's arm as she lay next to you. You moved your hand under her clothes and squeezed her breasts (Charge 5) and bottom (Charge 6). You then rubbed her stomach and moved your hand into her pyjamas and underwear and rubbed and squeezed her vagina (Charge 7).  Alison tried to push your hand away, but you continued to touch her. Milly saw you touching Alison under the blankets and left your bedroom to speak to Sally in another room.

13Sally then walked into your bedroom and asked Alison to come out and talk to her. Alison left your room and told Sally that you had been touching her. This is the first time that your offending was disclosed. As her mother was asleep, Sally rang David Perrin and his wife and told them what you had done to Alison. Sally then woke Leah and told her of your offending against Alison. This conversation was recorded over the phone by David Perrin. David then drove to the house in Craigieburn and collected Sally and Alison. The same day, David Perrin attended Sunshine Police Station and reported your offending against Alison.

14Sally later disclosed your offending against her; firstly, to her grandfather in January 2020, and then in May 2020 when she disclosed the circumstances of what are Charges 2 and 4 to her counsellor, who reported these disclosures to police, as he was mandatorily required to do.

15In July 2020, police contacted Milly as a result of Sally's disclosures, at which point Milly reported your offending against her to police during a video-recorded interview.

16In two Records of Interview conducted on 13 May 2019 and 8 July 2020, you denied the offending, as of course you were entitled to do.

17All three of your victims provided Victim Impact Statements.  Milly (Exhibit 4) wrote of feeling that she could not tell anyone, being unable to sleep, and suffering from nightmares and social anxiety. She was separated from her best friends Sally and Alison during the course of the criminal proceedings, a separation that she felt keenly. She now struggles with any physical contact and still has panic attacks. She writes, “It is tiring having to go through such a long process for someone like him”.

18Sally (Exhibit 5) writes of her confusion, of being scared and of how she had to sleep with a cupboard against the door to stop you getting in. She is not comfortable being alone with any male and she, too, struggles with sleep and experiences anxiety. She has lost her self-respect and confidence and has no thoughts about the future at the moment. She says, “I can’t think about it”.

19Alison (Exhibit 6) writes that she felt confused, embarrassed, sad, stupid, scared, angry and ashamed when you first offended against her.  She separated herself from people and she was unable to talk to people or concentrate on her schoolwork. She writes,

“I don't really think of a bright future. I'm still doing bad in school, I can't concentrate on anything. I don't really know what I'm feeling most of the time. I feel like it is my fault it happened. Ever since it happened I felt so lonely and sad and I started to hate myself. What I wanted to do was hide and be alone”.

20Those words are quite starkly compelling.

21Whilst of course such matters must not overwhelm the sentencing process, there can be no doubt as to the traumatic and lasting impact of your offending upon your victims.

22I turn now to your personal circumstances. 

23You were born in March 1981 and you are now 41 years of age. You were aged between 34 and 37 at the time of this offending. You are the eldest of six children. Your family grew up on a rural property near Gisborne. You report a strained relationship with your mother, who is now deceased. Due to her physical incapacity, she struggled to manage the family home. You felt she favoured your siblings and was particularly harsh toward you. At the end of your Year 10, your family relocated to inner-city Melbourne where your father had a business venture. You found the change of environment to be particularly challenging and you struggled to fit in both educationally and socially. You left school in Year 12 with no further formal qualifications. You worked in security for 15 years, then window installation, followed by occasional manual work.

24Your first long-term relationship began in 2000 with a woman called Rebecca[12].  You were together for eight years and had a son, Ethan[13], who is now aged 13. You separated shortly after Ethan’s birth. The separation, I am told, was acrimonious in the extreme and your access to Ethan over the years has not been without its challenges.

[12]A pseudonym.

[13]A pseudonym.

25You are currently married to Angelita[14], a Filipino national whom you met online in 2016. You spent some two and a half months in the Philippines in late 2017, marrying there in 2017. Angelita visited Melbourne in April 2018, staying until the following January. During this time, your son, Ray[15], was conceived. Angelita returned home to the Philippines for his birth in early 2019, at which you were present. You then returned to Australia after the birth, but your family's future plans were derailed by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

[14]A pseudonym.

[15]A pseudonym.

26In February 2022, your wife and son came to Australia on a tourist visa. There are obstacles, both administrative and financial, in converting that visa into a Spousal Visa, and thus there is a real prospect of them having to return to the Philippines.

27You are currently dependent upon the charity of a church community, where you now live in accommodation provided to you by a community member in return for small maintenance jobs on the property. Tendered on the plea as Exhibit 3OF was a collection of five references from members of your church. The authors speak of your qualities: that you are giving, helpful, trustworthy, reliable, compassionate and empathetic and are building a future there for your wife and young son.

28Exhibit 2OF was a psychological report by Mr Patrick Newton, clinical and forensic psychologist, dated 25 May 2022.

29Mr Newton noted that you maintained your innocence of these charges. Your test results were marked by a low level of self-disclosure and a reluctance to acknowledge personal problems, which suggested to Mr Newton that you are experiencing more intense emotional and psychological challenges than you are willing to openly acknowledge. There was no indication of psychological disorder, thought disorder or psychosis, nor of any mental state that may have affected your reasoning, judgment, impulse control or decision-making at the time of your offending against your victims.

30Mr Newton estimated your intelligence to fall in the normal range. However, he noted that in addition to your compliant and naïve personality:

“His social reasoning is surprisingly poor and his level of emotional sophistication is low. He is introverted and tends to interact with others in a rather idiosyncratic fashion. He is prone to be confused by subtleties and ambiguity in social discourse and many of his interactions and misunderstanding of confusion. He has thus felt perennially lonely, isolated and alienated from society”.

31In short, that over the years you have felt you do not fit in.

“Mr Henson’s personality dynamics have been a persisting part of his personality since late childhood and have underpinned his experiences of anxiety and depression. They are not sufficiently intense to meet criteria for a personality disorder but they are noted as prominent traits of ‘avoidant personality’”.

32What Mr Newton is saying is that they are not sufficiently intense to meet the criteria for a personality disorder, but they are indicative of an avoidant personality.

“In this context [continues Mr Newton] the offending of which he has been convicted can be understood as a dysfunctional attempt on his part to seek to overcome his loneliness and his isolation through sexualised behaviour with underage "partners". Such partners, by reason of their youth and their membership of the family circle (or close connection to it) - did not evoke the social anxiety which would have been evoked by approaching an adult partner for a casual liaison”.

33In Mr Newton's clinical opinion, you presented as no less than a moderate risk of further sexual offending, this being somewhat higher than the level of risk posed by a typical sex offender undergoing sentence. There is no evidence of sexual psychopathology or paraphilia such as to elevate your risk. Mr Newton observed:

“The most likely scenario for further offending on Mr Henson’s part will be contact offending against a known, underage female victim. Accordingly, the strictures of Sex Offender Registration should convey genuine protective benefit.”

34In evidence on your plea, Mr Newton stated that any reduction in your risk of re-offending depended upon a range of factors, including the role of supervision post-release in controlling contact with potential victims, the deterrent impact of the sentence and your ability to engage in treatment. 

35In this regard he noted that:

“Denial itself only adds a small amount to the risk of recidivism in sexual offenders. Nevertheless, in Mr Henson’s case it means that the assessment of offence supporting cognitive distortions and sexual deviance contributing to his offending conduct is not currently possible. Moreover, in the context of his ongoing denial, it is not possible to explore properly the cognitive, emotional and interpersonal context of his offending with him, and this imposes limits on the ability to design and implement treatment programs.”

36He recognised that your acceptance of the finding of guilt may signal a future shift in your denial, and, in that regard, can be viewed as a positive sign.

37Of concern is the fact that Mr Newton's opinion was, of course, based upon the information with which he was provided. Mr Newton did not know that during this charged period you had embarked upon an intimate, albeit long-distance, relationship with your now wife Angelita, and that between the dates of Charge 4 you had spent two and a half months in the Philippines with your wife to be, enjoying a full physical relationship. Mr Newton appropriately acknowledged the caveat that such information brought to his contextualising of your offending.

38Ms Goding, on behalf of the Director, submitted that this was serious offending committed in a brazen manner against vulnerable victims. It represented a gross breach of trust. It was offending that called for a head sentence and a non-parole period. She noted the Serious Sexual Offender provisions and that sexual assault of a child under 16 (Charges 5 to 7) was a standard sentence offence for which the standard sentence was a term of imprisonment of four years. She did not seek a disproportionate sentence.

39Mr Langton, Counsel on your behalf, conceded the inevitable disposition of a head sentence with a non-parole period. In mitigation of sentence, he pointed to your previous good character and to your undoubted qualities, as identified in Exhibit 3OF, as demonstrating good prospects for rehabilitation. You would, he said, keenly feel the separation from your wife and child and the uncertainty around their ability to remain in Australia. He reminded me of the evidence of Mr Newton that prison will provide more challenges for you than for someone without your personality traits. I accept those submissions and give what weight I can to them. Mr Langton accepted that there had been no evidence of remorse on your part.

40Mr Henson, offending against children will always be viewed by the courts as serious offending. There has been a growing recognition by the courts of the lasting impact that such offending has upon children and how it can often lead to lives that are not fully lived. Children who have been sexually offended against have had their innocence and their sense of self stolen from them. They struggle to engage in healthy relationships. They can struggle to find their place in the world. They often blame themselves for acts committed against them by adults and for which acts they are completely without blame.

41Crimes against children must be viewed as crimes against our common future and our common humanity. The courts have said time and time again that they will do everything within their power to protect children.

42Your offending was committed upon two close family members, in respect of whom you were in a quasi-parental relationship, and their best friend. They were vulnerable and needful due to the lack of parenting provided to them by their mother. Your room was a respite for them from their mother's lack of recognition of their needs and in that room at some point during your physical play, boundaries were crossed. It fell to you, Mr Henson, as the older to set appropriate boundaries during your play, but you did not. Rather, you took advantage of their trust in a manner that was both persistent and incremental. At a time when these children needed love and guidance, you set upon a course of sexual offending against them that was driven solely, I find, by your own sexual desires.

43Your offending in Charge 1 was perverse in the extreme: you made fun an act that was perverse in nature and was intended solely for your own sexual satisfaction.  Sally fell asleep in the imagined safety of your bed, only to awake to find you rubbing her breasts and then, on a later occasion, when just home from school, she suffered your penile penetration of her vagina without a condom and seemingly with others close by in the household. Your sexual assault of Alison was done with a sense of entitlement and with Milly present in the room. 

44You knew, Mr Henson, of your victims' vulnerability and that provided you with a confidence that they would not tell of your offending. Your offending was a gross breach of trust by an older male relative. It demonstrated a sense of entitlement and was brazen in the extreme: the offending against Alison and Milly taking place in the presence of others, and the penetration of Sally happening with a casualness that was quite chilling. It has had a lasting impact upon your victims and, further, it is offending for which you have shown no remorse. You had plenty of opportunity to consider the wrongfulness of your actions, but you carried on and your moral culpability is high.

45Mr Henson, the sentencing process is not about revenge nor is it about retribution. The sentencing process cannot give back to your victims that which they feel has been taken from them. In sentencing you I must have regard to a range of different factors.  I must give effect to the principle of general deterrence, that is the need to deter anyone from behaving as you have done. I must consider specific deterrence, that is the need to deter you from any repeat of such offending.  In my view, only successful engagement in treatment will reduce your risk of reoffending. 

46I must consider the need to protect the community from you and I must express the community’s denunciation of your conduct.  I must take into account the effect of your crimes upon your victims.  I must have regard to the statutory maximum penalties for the offences to which you have pleaded guilty and I must have regard to current sentencing practices. I must try to balance, in short, your personal circumstances with the circumstances of your offending. I am also required by law to pass no longer a sentence than is necessary in all the circumstances of the case, as I find them to be. 

47Finally, in addition to the matters I am required to take into account under s 5(1) of the Sentencing Act 1991, I must also take into account the fact that Charges 5 to 7 are standard sentence offences, the standard sentence for which is four years' imprisonment. Having identified and considered the relevant factors in assessing the appropriate sentence as part of the instinctive synthesis, including the maximum penalty and the standard sentences for each of those charges, in this case I form the view that the sentence I will impose on each of those charges is lower than the standard sentence.

48However, general and specific deterrence, just punishment, denunciation and protection of the community are all relevant sentencing purposes in your case and have a role to play.  I do also have regard to the principle of totality in both setting of sentences and in the orders for cumulation that I have made.

49I accept that prison may be more difficult for you than for others without your personality traits and I give weight to that consideration.  Further, and although it does not amount to exceptional hardship and in fairness to Mr Langton he did not seek to persuade me otherwise, I accept that such challenges may be compounded by the uncertainty around your wife and son's status of this country;  a separation which you will keenly feel and which leads to the prospect of you being separated and not being able to have visits.

50I accept your absence of prior convictions and your evident good qualities, as spoken of in Exhibit 3OF,  and that they do bode well for your rehabilitation.

51I have regard to the potential to reduce your risk level in the future, although at this stage it is still a matter of some conjecture.

52As your Counsel conceded and as you must be only too well aware, the objective gravity of your offending is such that it can only be met by a substantial and significant term of imprisonment.

53On Charge 1 you are sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 20 months.

54On Charge 2 you are sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 18 months.

55On Charge 4 you are sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 6 years and 10 months.

56On Charge 5 you are sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 10 months.

57On Charge 6 you are sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 10 months.

58On Charge 7 you are sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 21 months.

59Ms Goding, Mr Langton, the sentences on Charges 5 to 7 reflect that, essentially, they are all considered one incident.

60I order nine months of the sentence on Charge 1, five months of the sentence on Charge 2, and 10 months of the sentence on Charge 7 run cumulative to each other and cumulative to the sentence on Charge 4. This makes a Total Effective Sentence of eight years and 10 months.  I fix a non-parole period of 6 years and three months.

61On Charges 4, 5, 6 and 7, you are sentenced as a Serious Sexual Offender and I direct that this be entered into the records of the Court.

62Pursuant to s 18(4) of the Sentencing Act, I declare that you have served 28 days of the sentence that I have passed upon you, and I direct that this be entered into the records of the Court.

63Pursuant to the Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004 (Vic), you are now a registrable offender subject to the provisions of the Act and the period of registration is for the remainder of your life.

64I should have asked, Mr Langton, are there any custody management issues?

65MR LANGTON:  Not beyond what were noted when he was first remanded.

66HIS HONOUR:  Yes, all right.  Thank you very much, Ms Goding, for your attendance today.

67MS GODING:  Thank you, Your Honour.

68HIS HONOUR:  And likewise you, Mr Langton.  Leave the link up.

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