Director of Public Prosecutions v Li (a pseudonym)
[2017] VCC 1696
•11 October 2017
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised (Not) Restricted Suitable for Publication |
AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| Jun Li (a pseudonym) |
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JUDGE: | HER HONOUR JUDGE GAYNOR |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne |
DATE OF HEARING: | 11 October 2017 |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 11 October 2017 |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Li (a pseudonym) |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2017] VCC 1696 |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:
Catchwords:
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director of Public Prosecutions | Ms C. Parkes | |
For the Accused | Ms S. Bruhn |
TMS: 187445 Pages 1 - 30
HER HONOUR:
1Jun Li,[1] you have pleaded guilty before me to one charge of production of child pornography, seven charges of procuring sexual penetration by threats or intimidation, one charge of publication or transmission of child pornography; one charge of possession of child pornography and one charge of sexual assault.
[1] Jun Li is a pseudonym.
2The facts underlying your offending are as follows: there were two victims in this matter. So I'm going to use the actual names, but of course they can't be published ‑ thank you very much.
3The first victim was born in 1998 and lived with her family in Doncaster East. You and she started communicating with each other in June 2015 via a Chinese messaging application called Momo. You did not at any stage disclose your name.
4On 20 October 2015, the two of you continued communicating via a second application called WeChat. On 20 June 2015 whilst messaging, the victim disclosed that she was soon turning 17 and attended high school. Her profile on Momo disclosed that he was 16. You asked her if she needed money and offered to give it to her in change for her virginity.
5Five days later you offered to pay her money to have sex with you and for you to take photographs of her. The victim believed this was a joke and continued corresponding with you.
6The victim went to China for a while, returning in July 2015 and continued exchanging messages with you and on July 15, you offered via messaging to pay her $500 to masturbate you. She was curious about the attention you were showing her and continued messaging you about the proposal.
7On August 12, 2015, this is all via messaging, you offered to pay the victim $200 for oral sex and enquired into having anal sex with her and asked her to send a naked photograph of herself. The messaging continued. You offered to pay her money so that you could be the first person to have sexual intercourse with her. You continued to discuss details of this offer, stating you would have sex with her three times after taking her virginity.
8The victim asked if you were going to use a condom, you replying "of course not" as you were paying enough money and offered to pay her $17,000 saying you would organise birth control tablets and painkillers and would pay her after the first occasion of sexual intercourse.
9You told her to bring some photo identification with her so you could locate her if she didn't fulfil the agreement to have sex with you.
10The victim then nominated a fee of $20,000, and you added a condition that she stay overnight, and said she would receive a cheque on the day of the meeting.
11Further messaging occurred arranging meeting details and you asked her to refer to you as "master" and refused to tell her your name.
12On 14 August 2015, via Momo communication, a meeting time was set and you agreed to pay her $20,000 and give her a luxury handbag so that you could be the first person to have sexual intercourse with her. You also asked her to send you a photograph of her genitals.
13On 24 August 2015, you took a photograph on your phone of a cheque made out in the victim's name for $20,000 which sent to her, to confirm the arrangement.
14The two of you met on 29 August as agreed in Box Hill and walked to your apartment nearby. There, you played pornographic videos on your laptop computer, kissed her and the two of you went to the bedroom where you had sexual intercourse, the agreement also involving penetration of the victim's mouth with your penis as well as penetration of her vagina. You did not use a condom and ejaculated inside her, giving her a white tablet afterwards that you told her would prevent her from becoming pregnant.
15After sexual intercourse, you took photographs of naked images of her which she did not agree to but you said that they would not include her face. The victim therefore grudgingly allowed you to take photographs of her, however, when shown the photographs her face was visible. You took three full body naked images of the victim while she sat on the floor, capturing her vagina and breasts and took seven further close‑up images of her vagina.
16You also used the camera to take a video of the victim without her knowledge which displayed her vagina at close range, and showed you opening the vaginal walls so you could film inside. This video lasted 48 seconds.
17While taking these images you were aware that the victim was under 18. She was in fact 16 when these images and video were taken and these actions underlie a part of Charge 1, production of child pornography.
18You and the victim continued to have sexual intercourse during on the night and into the next morning which the victim did not enjoy and found painful.
19On 30 August in the morning, you again took close-up photographs of the victim's vagina, and another four images of full body shots of the victim displaying her vagina and breasts.
20The victim left the apartment the next morning without receiving any money. She messaged you soon after, enquiring when she would be paid and you told her you thought she had taken the cheque and would need time to work out a new cheque with the bank. Messaging continued between the two of you regarding the payment.
21On 11 September 2015, you messaged the victim saying she would get the money you owed her if she saw you again, reminding her of the arrangement and that she needed to have further sexual intercourse again with you before receiving the money. You mentioned, "If you don't give me your second time, you'd better be careful".
22The victim did not want to see you again, but did want the $20,000 she was owed, and was fearful of the consequences of not meeting with you. You threatened to distribute the photographs you had taken of her on the first occasion to her school and family.
23You also pleaded guilty before me to two summary charges of threatening to distribute an intimate image of a person, one was pursuant to s.39 of the summary Sexual Offences Act, the second pursuant to s.47. Charge 39 is a rolled up count and your threat on that occasion underlies part of summary charge 39.
24The victim met you at the Box Hill Plaza on 12 September and the two of you walked to your apartment. On the way you told her that you had prepared something, and she must obey your demands. You told her that if she complied with those demands you would not distribute the naked images of her. Your behaviour on this occasion also underlies summary offence Charge 39 threaten to distribute intimate image of a person.
25When entering your apartment the victim saw that the bed was now in the kitchen, that there was black straps and a black blindfold on top of the bed, but felt she had no other choice but to allow you to undress her. You penetrated her mouth with your penis before tying her wrists with the straps which you then connected to metal hooks on the bed preventing the victim from moving her arms. You blindfolded her and told her to cooperate with you and a short time later obtained a carrot and used this to penetrate her anus.
26You then started filming the victim with your camera as she laid tied up and blindfolded on the bed with a carrot penetrating her anus, which you continued to push in and out. You then used your fingers to penetrate her vagina while the carrot was still in her anus and on the video you are seen asking the victim, "where is the master fucking you?" She replying "anus", to you then ordering her to say it louder. This video lasted four minutes and 22 seconds and underlies part of Charge 1, production of child pornography and also underlies Charge 2, procuring sexual penetration by threats or intimidation.
27You began filming the victim again later that night as she remained bound to the bed with a quilt covering her upper body. You separated her legs, removed the quilt and told her to perform oral sex upon you, penetrating her mouth with your penis whilst she was still blindfolded and tied to the bed. You then penetrated her vagina with your penis during which penetration the victim was distressed telling you it was hurting. When you were about to ejaculate, you stood up and filmed the victim's face then ejaculated over her face and rubbed ejaculate on your fingers, which you then placed inside her mouth.
28You then stopped the camera with a video lasting 18 minutes and 11 seconds. Your actions in filming her and having sexual intercourse with her in that way underlying Charge 1, production of child pornography and Charge 3, procuring sexual penetration by threats or intimidation.
29In the early hours of the morning of 13 September 2015, you again started filming the victim with the Sony camera, at which time she was no longer tied to the bed. Her blindfold had been removed and she was trying to sleep. You applied lubricant to her vagina, removed the quilt covering her and commenced masturbating yourself. You then penetrated her vagina with your penis, during which the victim was distressed repeatedly telling you she was in pain. You kissed her and stifled any noises she was making.
30At one point the victim told you she could not take it anymore but you continued to penetrate her, telling her, "I will try to be quick if you can't take it anymore". You then ejaculated inside her vagina.
31The video that you took of this particular session of sexual contact lasted for 26 minutes and 30 seconds and underlies Charge 4 procuring sexual penetration by threats or intimidation and part of Charge 1, producing child pornography.
32Before leaving your home, the victim asked you to delete all images of her. You told her that even if you deleted what you had on your phone the material was still stored on hard drives and in a virtual cloud so that the images could never be erased. At this the victim began crying. You gave her $800 in cash to make her feel better, but not the $20,000 that you had promised.
33The victim then left in a taxi. She was unaware at the time that you had now produced further videos of her. On 26 September you messaged the victim on Momo saying you wanted to see her again. She refused but you told her that you would talk to her boyfriend disclosing you knew the boyfriend's name. The victim asked you what you wanted and you replied, "Very simple, there are another two times". She asked why she should see you again when you had not paid the $20,000 that you had promised and you told her that even if you never paid, she still had to meet you for sex. You threatened to tell her boyfriend how she had lost her virginity and reminded her you had a number of naked images she would not want her class mates to see.
34The messages continued in this manner for another two days. You promised in that messaging that there would only be another two occasions where the victim was required to have sexual intercourse with you. This behaviour underlies related summary offence Charges 39, threat to distribute an intimate image of a person.
35The victim did not want to see you or have sexual intercourse with you again but felt she must to prevent you showing her classmates and boyfriend the images that you had. She was worried that you would tell her boyfriend about the agreement she had made to have sex for money.
36She came to your home again on 29 September. She did not want to have sex with you, but agreed to, in exchange for you not showing her naked images to anyone. Whilst at the apartment you told the victim you could not wear a condom because you had run out of them, but promised not to ejaculate inside her. You then penetrated her vagina with your penis and did in fact ejaculate inside her. These actions underlie Charges 5 on the indictment, procuring sexual penetration by threats or intimidation.
37Before leaving the apartment, you gave the victim a birth control tablet and offered her $500. Within days you were again messaging her demanding she see you. You were concerned she was ignoring you and reminded her that she had to cooperate with you.
38You changed your profile picture on Momo to one of the victim's naked images. She saw the image of herself on the application and agreed to see you again in exchange for you removing the image. She took this as what you had done as a threat to show other people her naked images if she refused to see you again or to have sex with you again.
39By agreement on 20 October 2015, the victim attended your apartment. On entering she noticed a plate of carrots and you told her that if she obeyed you, you would allow her to leave early. You undressed and told the victim to lick you all over your body and she licked your chest and stomach before licking your feet. You then told her to perform oral sex upon her and then penetrated her mouth with your penis. You directed her on how to make it more pleasurable for you and held the victim's head forcing your penis deep inside her mouth until it hit the back of her throat and caused her pain. She was then instructed to use her hands to play with your penis.
40You told the victim to lie on the bed and used your camera to take three close‑up pictures of her vagina, you spreading the vaginal walls with your fingers. Whilst the victim covered her head with a blanket and pillow, you filmed yourself penetrating her vagina with one, two and three fingers simultaneously. You then took a carrot and lubricant and penetrated her vagina with the carrot while you filmed. At various stages you used either end of the carrot. The victim became distressed and was in pain as she immediately felt something sharp in her vagina and she repeatedly told you that she was in pain. You then penetrated her anus with your fingers and continued to use the carrot to penetrate her vagina. She repeatedly told you, "hurts, hurts, hurts" and pleaded with you to stop. You told her you would be quick as you as you continued to penetrate her.
41You then penetrated her vagina with your penis whilst the victim continued to show signs of distress and covered her head with a quilt. After a short time, you placed the camera on a nearby shelf and returned to the victim and penetrated her vagina with your penis until you ejaculated. The video that you took on this occasion lasted 29 minutes and 50 seconds.
42The victim told you her mother would be home soon and that she needed to leave but you told her that she had to have sexual intercourse again before she could go. The victim then lay face down on the bed while you penetrated her vagina with your penis. You were not wearing a condom. The victim reminded you not to ejaculate inside her and you ejaculated on her back and bottom. These actions underlie Charge 6 on the indictment procuring sexual penetration by threats or intimidation.
43The victim dressed and you ordered a taxi for her. She did not want to tell you her home address for fear you would use this information against her and she was surprised to discover you already knew her street name and house number. The two of you walked to Whitehorse Road where she caught a taxi home.
44When taking the images and video during this incident, again you were aware the victim was under 18. She was in fact 17 at this time, and your actions in creating this film underlie Charge 1, production of child pornography.
45Some days later you messaged the victim saying you wanted to see her because you were moving away soon and she would not hear from you again. She did not want to see you but on 30 October you continued to threaten her, telling her you would find her and that she should think about her boyfriend before saying no to you. You also told her that she needed to be good, had better do what you said and warned her you would release her naked images if she refused. These actions also underlie part of summary offence Charge 39, threatening to distribute an intimate image of a person.
46Because of the threats, the victim agreed to meet you again, but sent a message reminding you she did not enjoy having sex with you. On 3 November 2013, the victim went to your apartment arriving in the afternoon. The two of you spoke briefly and you told her that you would be disappearing soon. You began kissing her and pulled down her pants, then had sexual intercourse with her penetrating her vagina with your penis. You used a condom on this occasion. These actions underlie Charge 7 on the indictment procuring sexual penetration by threats or inducement.
47That evening you took six images of the victim's vagina and also filmed her lying on your bed naked from the waist down. You penetrated her vagina with your fingers as you filmed her. That video lasted 8 minutes and 51 seconds. At this time, again, you were aware the victim was 17 and hence under 18 years of age and your actions in filming her also underlie Charge 1, production of child pornography.
48On November 8, to prove to the victim that you were leaving, you sent her an image of a Qantas airline boarding pass. In fact you were about to fly to Sydney for a short stay, but sent this image via Momo as proof that you were leaving the country.
49Between 29 July 2015 and 15 January 2016, you messaged the victim via Momo and WeChat, directing her to send naked images of herself, instructing her how to pose and demanding she make videos of herself masturbating. Fearful you would contact her family or boyfriend, the victim complied with this request but refused to make any videos for you. You were aware at this time that the victim was under the age of 18 when you asked for these images and she was in fact between the ages of 16 and 17 when she sent the images.
50On January 7, 2016 you produced an image from a video of you penetrating the victim's vagina with your fingers which you had taken to November 3. On the night of 8 January 2016, you messaged the victim asking her to film herself masturbating and to send it to you, and when she refused, you messaged her saying that if she did not make the video you would have sex with her in a public place. You then messaged her saying you were on the way to her home. The victim messaged you saying she did not want you to come but you ignored her.
51That evening you saved two screen shots to your mobile phone of Lyndal Reserve playground, a park located off the victim's street. You took a taxi to the victim's home in the early hours of the 9 January 2016 and then sent the victim a message saying you were outside her house and telling her to come outside or you'd knock on the door. You also threatened to send her naked images to others if she did not come outside. You told her she would find her naked photos hanging up in her street if she failed to meet you.
52As a result of your threats, the victim went outside, without her mother knowing she had left home. These actions also underlie summary offence Charge 39, threat to distribute intimate images of a person.
53The victim intended to talk to you. She was surprised you were in Australia as you had led her to believe that you had gone to America. When she met you in the street, she noticed you seemed alcohol affected. You then showed her details of her boyfriend's online WeChat account, repeating your ongoing threat that if she did not obey you, you would send her naked images to her boyfriend, her school and her home address. You also told her this would be the last time she would see you because you were moving to America at the end of the month.
54As a result of your threats, the victim agreed to go with you and you led her to a path near her house. You put your jacket on the grass, told the victim to lie down, then pulled down her jeans and underwear and told her to lick your penis. You inserted your penis into her mouth, then removed it and penetrated her vagina before ejaculating over her stomach. These actions underlie Charge 8, procuring sexual penetration by threats or intimidation.
55Before leaving, you told the victim you would come and see her at her home the following week, and she told you that she was again travelling overseas. You then ordered her to send you a naked video and said you would have sex with you again. The victim came to the realisation that this was never going to stop, told you to do what you wanted with the images and went home.
56Soon after the victim travelled to China so her mother could receive medical treatment, but you continued to message her while she was there asking when she was returning, telling her you wanted sex with her again and threatening to contact her boyfriend and show him the naked images.
57The victim became angry and deleted you from her account. She spoke to her boyfriend and disclosed some of the history, warning her boyfriend a man might contact him and not to believe anything that he said. Your actions in threatening her, again underlie Charge 39, threat to distribute intimate image of a person.
58Between January 12 and 15 you were in Victoria and messaged the victim's boyfriend on WeChat. You told him the victim had been cheating on him and that you had recently had sex with her. You told him that you had naked images of her and sent the victim's boyfriend a naked image of the victim sitting on a bed being penetrated vaginally by you with your fingers. The victim was 17 years old at the time that this image was taken.
59You retrieved the image from the victim's boyfriend which prevented him from keeping a record of the image and only displayed the messages, and then deleted him as a friend, preventing the boyfriend from communicating with you again. The victim and her boyfriend exchanged messages in which he disclosed that you had been threatening to release naked images of her, if she did not continue to have sex with you. She did not tell her boyfriend anything about the agreement to have sexual intercourse for $20,000.
60On 8 January 2016 you started to use a new Momo account and produced non‑nude images of the victim under the account name entitled "Exchange". This enabled other members of Momo to view the images and while setting up the account, you listed the victim's age as 20 and displayed that she was a female.
61Soon after these images were posted by you, the victim's boyfriend was notified by two friends about the accounts that you had set up. This caused the victim to be fearful as she believed that you were uploading and spreading her naked images to other people. One of the friends continued to check the Exchange account and saw new images of the victim on the account, a number of them being of a topless female displaying her breasts. He took a screen shot of these images which did not show the female's head and sent them to the victim's boyfriend. He was later told these topless images were not of the victim.
62On 13 January 2016, you sent an image of the victim you had taken on the first night the two of you met, showing her vagina and breasts and edited it, in an attempt to hide the background showing your apartment. By editing this, you had had produced a new naked image of the victim at which time she was 16 years old.
63On 14 January, you used an image of the victim you had taken from the video filmed on 3 November 2015, showing your fingers penetrating her vagina. You edited this image to disguise your hand and again, produced a new image of the victim, she being 16 years old at the time the image was originally taken.
64On 14 January 2016 the victim's boyfriend who was in China asked if he could use his Momo account to try and communicate with you via the new Exchange account. He sent you messages via this account and you replied saying that you were the victim's boyfriend. You also said that you wanted to exchange naked images of the victim for naked images of other people's girlfriends.
65The victim's boyfriend requested that you send some naked images of the victim and you sent three images depicting the victim's breasts and vagina. One of those sent was an image that had you edited on 13 January 2015 at which time the victim was between 16 and 17 years of age. You were not aware that you were sending these naked images to the victim's boyfriend, but thought the person you were messaging was a stranger in China.
66To prevent you from becoming suspicious, the victim's boyfriend downloaded some naked images from the Internet and sent these to you pretending they were of his girlfriend. After sending these images of his fake girlfriend, the victim's boyfriend received a reply from you saying you could organise a foursome together.
67The victim's boyfriend tried to question you about why you were reporting to be a female in the account details and why you were sending nude images of your girlfriend. You told him not to worry and "not to investigate it any further" and said you would bring the victim, if a foursome could be arranged. The victim's boyfriend took a screen shot of the images and messages before deleting the Exchange account as a friend.
68On 15 January 2016, you continued to post images of the victim on your Exchange account, using Momo. The victim messaged you via WeChat asking you to stop posting her images and to close down the Exchange account. You continued to threaten her with releasing more naked images and sent her two images depicting her via WeChat. The victim was between 16 and 17 years old at the time the images were taken.
69All these actions underlie Charge 9 on the indictment, publication or transmission of child pornography. The victim and her boyfriend spoke further about what to do, and were ultimately advised by a lawyer to report you to police. The matter was eventually reported on 22 January 2016.
70On 26 January 2016, a search warrant was executed at your apartment in Box Hill and you were arrested. Police seized your mobile phone, laptop, a computer tower, a portable hard drive, a camera, two white tablets and a DVD case containing 32 DVDs.
71In the record of interview with police, you stated that you had met the victim on Momo, that the two of you had begun communicating and discussed a deal where you would pay the victim for sex, saying that you were to pay her a few thousand dollars progressively. You said the victim had told you that she needed money and you said that you would give her money but first you were to have sex. You said that the price had been negotiated with conditions that you would not wear a condom and would supply birth control pills.
72You said you told police you believed the victim was 18 but were not sure, that you knew that she was in high school, that you did not know if she was 17 and denied ever being told by her that she was 17. You told police that on the first occasion you gave the victim $2000 and then had ordinary penis vagina sex where you did not use a condom and where you gave her a birth control pill.
73You told police that you had organised to meet the victim four to five times for the price you had paid and that you continued to pay her a few hundred or a few thousand dollars. You denied threatening to send naked photographs of the victim unless she agreed to meet you again but agreed that she was cooling down towards you. You admitted telling the victim that if she did not reply to your messages, you would contact her boyfriend, and asked whether he had seen the photographs she had sent you. You said that they then met again. You said you paid her between $800 and $1,000, had oral and ordinary sex, that the victim agreed to be tied down, that you had not used a condom and that you ejaculated inside her. You denied that the victim had asked you to stop.
74You told police you had sex with the victim that night four to five times. You agreed that you had ascertained the name of the victim's boyfriend. You agreed that the victim agreed to do what you wanted and was not very happy. In relation to the next meeting, you said the two of you had ordinary sex five or six times, that you did not use a condom, that you ejaculated inside her once, that you probably gave her a thousand dollars and denied threatening to send her photographs unless she met you for the purpose of having sex.
75You denied threatening to upload naked images of the victim and believed that she actually wanted to see you again. You told police that you met again one to two weeks later. You said you gave her money, that the two of you had ordinary sex and that you ejaculated outside her. You in fact said that the next time that you saw her was before Christmas, that the two of you had oral and ordinary sex. You did not use a condom, gave her taxi money and said the victim told you where she lived.
76You told police that the two of you met on one more occasion in January 2016, which you described as a voluntary arrangement so that the two of you could have sex for the last time and denied messaging the victim when you were outside. You said that the two of you walked to a garden area, had oral and ordinary sex, said you did not give her money and denied telling the victim that she had to cooperate with you.
77You did admit telling the victim you would meet her the following week. You denied threatening to print naked photographs of her. You admitted sending her an image of an airline ticket. You denied asking for naked photographs of the victim. You told police you had promised the victim you would not send the photographs to anyone and said you had deleted the video you took on the first occasion. You did admit that you later asked the victim to send you nude photographs and videos but the victim refused to take a video.
78You told police that you took photos and videos of the victim with your phone every time the two of you had sexual intercourse, bar one occasion that the images of her were of her vagina and breasts and that you did not discuss this with her.
79You denied sending photos or videos of the victim to anyone and denied posting them on any websites. You did admit to posting three photographs of her face and head as a profile photograph for fun, and denied posting a video of the victim. You did admit to threatening to send nude photographs of the victim to her boyfriend as you were concerned, you said, that she was going to take your money without doing what she had promised. You said you knew the age of a naked woman in an image must be 18 years old and you believed that the victim was having sexual intercourse with you for money.
80Your mobile phone, laptop computer, portable hard drive, computer tower and DVD collection were forensically analysed. The total child exploitation material conducted on all devices which was located and which underlies Charge 10 on the indictment, possession of child pornography, contained 35 videos, one in Category 3 of the classification of such materials and 34 in class 4 which depicts a child or adult engaging in penetrative sex. Of the images located of child exploitation material, 130 images fell into class 1 Category and there were 40 images in class 4 depicting child or adult sexual penetration; and one image in class 5 depicting sadism or bestiality.
81Examination of your mobile phone showed that you had saved a screen shot on 20 June 2015 of the victim's Momo profile which showed that he was a female and was 16 years of age. Analysis showed that you accessed six different Momo accounts. Examination of your laptop computer revealed that you had created a folder on 30 August 2015 containing 1296 images and videos copied from your mobile phone from the first night that you met with the victim, naked images of which were located within that folder, being six videos and 41 images.
82I now turn to the second victim who was born 19 June 1995. She began communicating with you via WeChat in December 2015. She was in a group chat with you using the account name JJ, when you requested her as a friend.
83Whilst communicating with her, you asked victim two for images and complimented her on her looks. You specifically asked for naked images and she felt pressured by you and believed if she complied with you, you would leave her alone. She sent the JJ account an image of her breasts.
84While messaging with you she told you she had been seeing someone and was concerned this male may be married. You suggested a friend of yours known as "Jason" may be able to assist her as he was a private detective who specialised in investigating the Asian community in Melbourne.
85Soon after, victim two received a friend request from Jason which she accepted, unbeknownst to her that Jason was in fact you. Acting as Jason you asked the victim questions about the male she had been seeing and offered to take on her investigation for a fee. Victim two advised you she didn't have any money but you kept asking for details about the male, suggesting that she help you with a case at some point in the future and friend to be your lover.
86On January 4 2016, posing as Jason you messaged victim two inviting her to come to a Melbourne hotel to help on you a case where you were investigating important businessmen. Victim two had earlier expressed an interest in detective work and she agreed to meet you and you provided her with an address of a hotel in Collins Street.
87You checked into the Hotel Oaks on Market street in the city on 4 January. The victim waited in Collins Street before being approached by you. You introduced yourself as Jason and the two of you went to your hotel room. You told her that you had checked into this room as it was next to the businessman you were investigating.
88While walking to the room, you told victim two the two of you needed to act like a couple and you put her arm around her waist making her feel uncomfortable. In the hotel room you said the two of you had to wait for the businessman to return. You talked for a while and then the conversation turned to drinking alcohol. You filled a glass of vodka and gave it to victim two which she did not drink much at first, but you repeatedly told her to drink more and began pouring the vodka into her mouth from the glass.
89Victim two began to feel affected by the alcohol and decided to lay down on the bed and sleep. You got on to the bed and suggested victim two remove her clothes if she was hot and put your hand up her T‑shirt and under her bra feeling her breasts. Victim two felt uncomfortable as she was trying to sleep. Your actions in touching her breast underlie part of Charge 1, sexual assault.
90While she was asleep, you took images of victim two's Victorian driver's licence and her student card which images were later found on your mobile phone. Victim two awoke sometime later and needed to go to the toilet. When she sat up, she saw you on the bed next to her naked and masturbating. You put your arm around the victim and began pushing her towards your erect penis saying, "It's okay, just suck it". You told her it would be a good thing to suck your penis in order to make her boyfriend jealous. These actions also underlie Charge 11 on the indictment, sexual assault.
91She pushed you away and told you that she needed to go to the toilet. You escorted her to the bathroom, told her she was drunk and that she had to let you take care of her. Victim two became scared, immediately felt sober and packed her things and told you she was leaving. You ordered her a taxi and gave her two $50 notes to pay for it. You said you were leaving for Sydney and that victim two should not contact you and she then left.
92On January 5 2016, the victim two received messages from you posing as JJ asking for more naked images. You wanted her to include her breasts, vagina and full naked body shots that included her face. She refused and told you that she was out with family and threatened to send the photograph that she had previously sent to you, to her family. You said you would let her family know what a slut she was. You gave her a time limit to send you the naked images and to enforce the threat then posted an image of her face on your account from a picture victim two had previously sent you, leading her to believe you would act upon your threat.
93Victim two then messaged Jason asking him if he could stop his friend JJ from threatening her. You, posing as Jason, told her you would help her, but in the meantime she should do whatever JJ asked her to, otherwise JJ would certainly upload her naked image. Victim two, unsurprisingly, felt she had no option but to take a naked image of herself and sent it to your JJ account.
94After this, you responded that it was not good enough as it did not include her face. You continued to threaten to upload victim two's naked images if she refused to take more naked images of herself and gave her instructions on how to pose, which included an image of her masturbating.
95You sent another timeline for the provision of these images. Victim two complied with this demand, believing she had no choice and took another image of her breasts and full body which included her face and sent them to you. You then demanded victim two make a two to three minute video of herself naked and penetrating her vagina and again set a time limit. Victim two at first refused at first to make the video, but you sent a further message, saying you were already uploading her naked images to the Internet.
96Victim two went into the bathroom and filmed herself taking her clothes off and then penetrating her vagina with her fingers and sent this video to you. Your actions in obtaining this material relate to summary offence Charge 47, threat to distribute intimate image of a person.
97Victim two told you she was going to speak to police and friends about the threat, but you said you were not concerned. She became more fearful subsequently and yet again spoke to Jason who told her to try and establish where JJ was staying so that he could go and stop him.
98Victim two continued to message you via the JJ account and you told her that you were staying at Crown Casino and that she should go there and you would pay her for sex. She agreed to go and was given your room number. She passed the details on to Jason and stayed home, as she had no intention of ever meeting you. She was later messaged by Jason, whereby you posing as Jason told her that you had gone to Crown Casino and found JJ. You assured the victim that all naked images had been deleted from JJ's phone and that he had told JJ not to contact you again.
99The mobile phone seized when you were arrested in relation to the first victim was analysed and 51 naked photographs and two videos of victim two penetrating her vagina were discovered by police. On 16 April, police contacted victim two and she then reported the matter to police on 17 April 2016 identifying Jason as you.
100On 18 May 2016 you were interviewed by police during which interview you said that you had met victim two via Momo, that you had met her once in a Melbourne hotel. You said that at that hotel victim two became drunk, that you had suggested that she drink water and that the victim then left by taxi. You said that you had messaged her to confirm that she was home and that after that there was further contact via Momo. You denied any sexual activity with victim two in the hotel room. You said that you had taken a photograph of the victim two's licence so that you could see her age before she had a drink. You said you could not remember taking any other photographs on this occasion. You admitted victim two had sent photographs of yourself. You said you did not know who JJ or Jason were and refused to comment, when asked about their identity.
101You said you could not remember purporting to be a detective. You denied encouraging victim two to drink in in the hotel room. You denied touching her breasts. You denied pushing her head towards her penis.
102You were granted bail on 26 January 2016, but were then detained by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection at the Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre after your visa was cancelled.
103The maximum penalty for production of child pornography is 10 years' imprisonment. The maximum penalty for procuring sexual penetration by threats or intimidation is 10 years' imprisonment. The maximum penalty for publication or transmission of child pornography is 10 years' imprisonment. The maximum penalty for possession of child pornography is 10 years' imprisonment. The maximum penalty for sexual assault is 10 years' imprisonment. The maximum penalty for the summary offence of threatening to distribute the intimate image of a person is one year of imprisonment.
104I now turn to your personal circumstances: you are 28 years of age and have no prior convictions. You were born in China, the only son of your parents. Your father was an entrepreneur and your mother had the occupation of home duties. You came to Australia in 2016, aged 16 with your mother. The aim was for you to gain permanent residency here and to marry an Australian girl.
105Between 2007 and 2008 you completed Years 11 and 12 at Meridian international school where you performed well and obtained a Year 12 scholarship. You obtained entrance to and completed a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Engineering degree at Monash University between 2009 and 2013. You told psychologist Ian Joblin whose report was tendered on the plea and who gave evidence on the plea that your parents, particularly your mother were extremely strict and emotionally distant. You came to China at their behest, although you did not wish to leave. You were discouraged from focussing anything but your studies. You made few friends at university, or at school.
106At the time of offending you were socially isolated and living alone in the apartment at Box Hill. Your mother had returned to China sometime previously. After graduation you were unable to find employment. You had a particular difficulty in relation to your inability to learn to write English. You speak English reasonably well, but your written English is very poor.
107You had been tutored in English since about the age of 10 but had never mastered it. Your English speaking is still formal and stilted and Mr Joblin give evidence that at some stage he had difficulty understanding you.
108In order to obtain permanent residency it was necessary that you pass an English exam and you failed this exam between 30 and 40 times. This affected the status of your student visa. In high school in China you formed a close relationship with a classmate, Ms Wang. You continued this relationship on a long‑term basis when had you came to Australia. An infatuation had arisen and you did not want to leave her, although you had to at the behest of your parents.
109In March of 2014 you discovered that Ms Wang was in fact getting married and you last spoke to her in April 2014. In June 2014 you discovered the Momo app for Chinese speakers in Australia. Several months later you met a woman, Carol via Momo and had your first sexual experience with her. The relationship continued until March 2015 when she finished her studies and returned to China. Between April and June 2015 you had a number of sexual encounters with young women you met on Momo.
110You met victim one in June 2015, the offending against her continued until January 2016. You met 2016 two via WeChat in December 2015 and offended against her until later in January 2016.
111The day after you were interviewed by police in relation to victim two, you tried to commit suicide by hanging yourself, but the structure failed. On 1 February 2016 you again tried to commit suicide by burning yourself. On February 4 2016, you attended a Thursday night prayer session with the GO Evangelical Church in Box Hill where the met the Reverend James Foo. You formed a relationship with him, confessed to your offending and continued to attend at the church on Thursday and on weekends.
112Church members gave evidence on the plea hearing and also wrote references and the Reverend James Foo described you in his reference as a consistent attender upon the church, who spoke of your offending to a number of number of congregation members; that you spoke in particular of the deep remorse that you experienced for what you had done and that church members continued to support you in custody when they could.
113Between November 11 and December 5 2016, you attended upon Dr Mathew Barth for three sessions of a sex offender treatment program at the Central Melbourne Psychology Centre. In his report of December 2016, Dr Barth described you as engaging well in the program but said you were at the formative stage of developing insight into the destructive nature of your offending. He believed further psychological treatment was integral to ensuring you did not offend again in this way in the future.
114On December 30 2016, because of the criminal charges brought against you, your visa was cancelled. On January 3 2017, you attended the Department of Immigration and Border Protection to apply for a bridging visa, but as I have said, were taken into immigration detention where you remained until June 1, 2017.
115During this time you were sent to Christmas Island. Whilst in detention, you were assaulted by another inmate. Since June 7 2017, you had been held at the Melbourne Remand Centre.
116The plea hearing in this matter was adjourned on 10 April 2017 for a psychological report to be prepared. In the interim you engaged a new solicitor and new counsel were briefed. Your mother returned to support you in Australia, although she has now returned again to China. Significantly these charges have resulted in a new emotional closeness between you, she blaming herself for the strictness with which she raised you. She remains supportive of you, and it is now your desire to return to China as soon as you can.
117It is clear that you will be deported back to China once you have served your sentence for this offending and as I have said, it is your desire to return there and start your life afresh.
118In evidence on the plea, Mr Joblin said that he had formed the opinion that you suffered features of the condition satyriasis, whereby a person is driven by a seemingly insatiable sex drive. He said once you had your first sexual experience with Carol, this was followed by a succession of women before you engaged in the offending involving the two victims.
119He said your offending involved not just physical acts, but the need to psychologically dominate and control the women involved, that is both physically and psychologically in order to make yourself feel adequate. He distinguished this condition from other similar such offending as being based on a sexual compulsion rather than the power or domination based on violence often underlying serious sexual behaviours, such as serial rape.
120He said you had a need to achieve a continuation of sexual gratification, such that you were prepared to engage in deceptive and coercive conduct to gain this. The deceptions he said also created a psychological buzz. He believed that protective factors in your case were your mother's change of heart and the church you had formed, which gave you some insight into your offending, as you initially thought you had done nothing wrong. He believed the experience of being charged and placed in custody had also been salutary for you.
121Mr Joblin described you as a very intelligent and not suffering other disorders, which might be of concern in determining your prospects of rehabilitation, such as borderline personality, narcissistic personality or antisocial personality disorders. He believed that you were certainly on the path to rehabilitation but had some way to go in addressing and working through the issues that confronted you and under lay your offending against both women. He regarded it as a positive sign that in the 12 months between the end of your offending against victim two and being placed in custody that you had had no further sexual relationships.
122You told both your counsel and Mr Joblin that there was some cultural factors at play in this offending, that in particular the age of consent in China was 14 years and that it was an offence in China to receive money for sex.
123Your counsel submitted that in sentencing you, I should take into account your prior and subsequent crime free history, which even in matters of this kind has some, if lesser mitigatory weight. He submitted I should also take into account the gains you had made in attending for six offender treatment sessions and gaining some insight in your offending.
124Your voluntary involvement in the church, evidence of remorse via what you had expressed to the Minister and other congregation members and the new closeness and continued support emanating from your mother he said were also important mitigatory factors in this matter. Mr Joblin also in his report regarded you as remorseful.
125The prosecution submitted that this was most serious offending, however conceded that your previous good character could, to a lesser degree be taken into account. The prosecution also conceded that protection of the community was a lesser factor in the sentencing exercise before me, given your inevitable eventual deportation back to China.
126It was submitted, however, that this was protracted offending involving the infliction of pain, was exploitive, manipulative, and predatory and included the aggravating feature of blackmail, so the denunciation and punishment were dominant factors to which regard must be had.
127I should add that it was not argued by defence that anything other than a term of imprisonment was an appropriate response in this case. It was conceded by the prosecution that I am entitled to reduce the sentence I will impose by reference the period you have spent in immigration detention.
128Both victims made victim impact statements and it was clear from each, that each have, unsurprisingly, been gravely impacted by your offending against them, feeling isolated and ashamed and anxious and distrustful of the wider world. One described your offending as brutal, an expression which I find to be entirely apt. The studies of each have been disrupted. Both continue to experience the emotional difficulties which can only be expected from the harassment and intimidation you subjected them to and it is to be expected that their difficulties will continue to impact upon them well into the future. In particular, victim one can be expected to have a psychological difficulties of a grave nature, extending well into her future.
129In sentencing you, I do take into account your previous good character, to a lesser degree applicable in cases of this kind. I take into account the difficulties of your upbringing, your social isolation and the development of the condition described by Mr Joblin as underlying and explaining your offending. I do accept that you are remorseful for your offending and have gained insight into it. I further accept that cultural factors had a part, albeit limited to play in this offending. I accept that you have protective factors such as church support and that of your mother and that you are otherwise a highly intelligent young man, who will hopefully return to China once you have served your sentence, live a successful and productive life there. But I must regard your prospects of rehabilitation to be guarded at best. I regard this offending as extremely serious. I regard it as entirely manipulative, exploitive and harmful.
130To some extent, whilst the explanation by Mr Joblin gives some insight into why you behaved in this cruel and exploitive way, it by no means, or in any way excuses it. You subjected these young women to extreme fear, and in particular in relation to victim one, to extended bouts of painful, unwanted, brutal sexual encounters. You subjected your victims, in particular I refer to victim one to appalling degradation. You added to that degradation in the way you filmed her, the way you saved those images, the way you sought to use those images against her. Your actions were those of a sexual terrorist. I understand that there are some cultural difficulties that you faced but they in no way account for, or excuse your appalling behaviour.
131As I have said it was cruel, dominating, manipulative, exploitive and entirely predatory behaviour.
132It is rare in this court to encounter such a protracted series of actions designed to dominate, subdue, humiliate and degrade another human being in sexual terms. I entirely agree with the prosecution's submission that in sentencing you, I must have regard to punishment and to denunciation of your offending. You must understand, Mr Li, that Mr Joblin has diagnosed a condition in you which he says underlies behaviour which on any level can only be described as cruel, brutal and callous. You may desire to return to China. You may have a better relationship with your mother, but I am by no means satisfied that you will be capable of desisting from this behaviour once you return to your home country.
133As I said, I do accept that you have made some progress, and I do accept that you have some remorse, but at the end of the day I am left with an appalling litany of, as I have said, brutal degrading sexual behaviour against a young woman, a teenager, and it is on that basis primarily that I sentence you.
134Can you stand up please, sir.
135On Charge 1, you are sentenced to 2 years' imprisonment. On Charge 2, you are sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment. On Charge 3, you are sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment. On Charge 4, you are sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment. On Charge 5, you are sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment. On Charge 6, you are sentenced to 2 years and six months imprisonment. On Charge 7, you are sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment. On Charge 8, you are sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment. On Charge 9, you are sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment.
136On Charge 10, you are sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment. On Charge 11, you are sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment. On summary Charge 39 you are sentenced to 9 months' imprisonment. On summary Charge 47, you are sentenced to 4 months' imprisonment.
137Now I apologise to everybody, but I just realised I think I got my maths wrong in this, all right. The base charge is, the sentence imposed on Charge 6, which is 2 years and six months imprisonment. Could you please have a seat, sir. I just have to work something out. Thank you.
138Yes, thank you. Stand up please, sir.
139I order that six months of the sentences imposed on Charges 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 be served cumulatively to the sentence imposed on Charge 2 and I order that three months of the sentences imposed on Charges 9, 10, 11, be served cumulatively to the sentence imposed on Charge 6 and all other sentences. That two months of the sentence imposed on summary offence 39 and one month of the sentence imposed in relation to summary Charge 47 be served cumulatively to the sentence imposed on Charge 6 and all other sentences and that should lead to a head term of seven years.
140Does that work out?
141MS PARKES: Yes, Your Honour.
142HER HONOUR: Yes. I note that I am taking into account the time that you have spent in protective custody, which is about six months and I order that you serve a minimum term of four and a half years. Just to make that clear, it would have been five years as a minimum term, but it's four and a half years because I am taking that into account that it be served as a minimum term.
143Can I ask, what is the pre‑sentence detention?
144MS PARKES: 126 days, Your Honour
145HER HONOUR: I declare that 126 days of this sentence have already been served by way of pre‑sentence detention.
146Pursuant to s.6AAA, I declare that had you not pleaded guilty, I would have sentenced you to a maximum term of eight years' imprisonment and order that you serve a minimum term of six years.
147Thank you. Is there anything else that I need to attend to?
148MS PARKES: The Sex Offender's Registration Act, Your Honour.
149HER HONOUR: Yes. You are declared a serious sexual offender. You are placed upon the sex offenders register for life.
150MS PARKES: Yes.
151HER HONOUR: Thank you. Your counsel will explain to you your obligations in relation to that.
152MS PARKES: I understand Your Honour's made the forensic sample and forfeiture orders previously.
153HER HONOUR: They have been done, yes.
154MS PARKES: Thank you.
155HER HONOUR: Thank you. Yes thank you very much. Is there anything else that I need to attend to?
156MS PARKES: No, Your Honour.
157MS BRUHN: No, Your Honour.
158HER HONOUR: Thank you.
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