Director of Public Prosecutions v Meharry

[2017] VCC 298

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

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR 16-01849

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

FABIAN ROY MEHARRY

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JUDGE:	HER HONOUR JUDGE GAYNOR
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:
DATE OF SENTENCE:	22 March 2017
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Meharry
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2017] VCC 298

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 B. Kissane
For the Accused	Mr M. Sturges

HER HONOUR: 

1Fabian Roy Meharry, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of persistent sexual abuse of a child under 16.  The maximum penalty for which is 25 years' imprisonment;

2Two charges of compelling sexual penetration.  The maximum penalty for that offence is 25 years' imprisonment;

3Two charges of sexual penetration of a child under 16.  The maximum penalty for that charge is ten years' imprisonment;

4Two charges of procuring a child under 16 years.  The maximum penalty is ten years' imprisonment;

5One charge of indecent act with a child under 16 years, the maximum penalty for which is ten years' imprisonment;

6One charge of grooming for sexual conduct a child under 16 years, the maximum penalty being ten years;

7Nineteen charges of producing child pornography.  The maximum penalty for that offence is ten years' imprisonment;

8One charge of publication or transmission of child pornography, the maximum penalty for which is ten years' imprisonment;

9One charge of possessing child pornography, the maximum penalty for which is five years' imprisonment;

10Thirteen charges of using a carried service to groom a person under 16 years.  The maximum penalty for that offence is 12 years' imprisonment;

11Seventeen charges of using a carriage service for sexual activity.  The maximum penalty for that offence is 15 years' imprisonment and;

12Two charges of failing to comply with reporting obligations under the Sex Offenders Registration Act, the maximum penalty for which is five years' imprisonment.

13You have also pleaded guilty to five summary charges, which are uplifted to be heard in the County Court, pursuant to s.145 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2009. They were five charges of threatening to distribute an intimate image, intending the victim would believe the threat would be carried out. The maximum penalty for that offence is one year imprisonment.

14I turn first to a description of the offending underlying the charges.  That offending involved 22 separate victims, girls aged between 11 and 17 years,  they being the ages of the victims at the time you first made contact with them, and then began offending against them.

15I attach as an exhibit to these sentencing remarks, the very full and detailed prosecution opening in this matter.  My description of your offending is expressed in more general terms.

16During the period of that offending, which began in late 2006 and which proceeded on an almost continuous basis from early 2010 until your apprehension by police in mid-2015, you were aged between 18 and 26 years of age.  A breakdown of the ages of each of your victims when you began offending against them is as follows:  one 11-year-old, three 12-year-olds, one 13-year-old, eight 14-year-olds, six 15-year-olds, one 16-year-old and two 17-year-olds.

17The offending period against each varied from as little as a day in the case of some, a week for others, whilst you subjected others to months of ill treatment.  One complainant endured your offending for almost two years, and with one complainant, your offending spanned four years.

18From 25 August 2008, you were registered under the Sex Offenders Registration Act following convictions in the Melbourne County Court on charges of sexual penetration of a child under 16, indecent act with a child under 16, and possessing child pornography.  That offending was presented to the court as an ill-judged, but genuine relationship with a 13-year-old girl, when you were just 18.

19During the period of the current offending, you had founded  an internet-based company called Magic Grinding Wax, through which you sold wax for BMX bicycle riders via its website.  You spoke to many complainants about this business and the website, and it would appear, used it to impress them and draw them in.

20Generally speaking, the modus operandi you employed involved you contacting underage girls via social media sites, befriending them, and then flattering them, sometimes leading them to believe that, as a result of the communications with you, they were in a relationship with you.

21Apart from one or two occasions, it was perfectly clear to you what the age of each of your victims was.  You then swiftly moved into sexually explicit conversations with them, and then requested they supply you with images or video files of their breasts and vaginas.  You would pester or stand over those victims who initially refused that request until they succumbed.  Once you had this material, you would threaten to publish or distribute it unless they performed further sexual acts online via Skype or webcam while you watched.

22You then, unbeknownst to your victims, recorded those sessions in which the sexual acts were performed.  Many of those sessions involved you masturbating on camera while you directed your victims as to the sexual acts they would have to perform.

23Your demands escalated.  Victims were ordered to rub their vaginas, then insert their fingers into their vaginas, then to insert objects into their vaginas, such as a hairbrush handle, pencils, broken objects such as a bottle or a glass, on one occasion, a spatula handle, on another, a chair leg.  The sessions were sometimes lengthy, lasting anywhere from half an hour to three hours.

24Frequently, you ordered your victims to penetrate their vaginas more deeply, either with their fingers or with the object you had demanded, these directions often given in the face of distress or complaints if the demanded activity was causing pain.

25The depravity of your actions escalated.  You began demanding victims engage in acts of bestiality with a dog, while you watched.  On two occasions, you forced a distressed 13-year-old to perform incestuous acts upon her sleeping seven year old brother, filmed them and then later threaten to disseminate the material on social media, unless she continued to perform other sexual acts for your benefit via Skype.

26Between sessions, you would contact the complainants, demanding they engage in another such session, threatening to publish the material these girls had initially sent you, or sessions which you had recorded without these girls' knowledge or consent to their family, friends or on Facebook.

27Your language was bullying and intimidating.  Almost inevitably, your victims complied with your demands in the face of those threats, which also included threats to harm yourself, you, for example, holding a knife to your throat on camera.

28You told those who protested that you could never be caught, that you had done this many times before, that the complainants themselves would be charged with criminal offending, invariably persuading your victims that they were helpless and powerless to resist you.

29As I have said, this offending continued over a period of nine years, and from September 2011 until your arrest in 2015, you were sexually abusing more than one victim at any given time.

30On 16 January 2015, following a complaint, police raided your home, where they recovered a large amount of electronic material, and you were questioned, but it appears, not charged, pending the analysis of the material seized.

31Undeterred, you continued your offending at an even greater rate, preying on eight more victims, one of them already having begun to be abused by you only days before the police raid, and abused thereafter by you until March of that year, until your final arrest on 7 August 2015.  Thereafter your offending has ceased, only presumably, because you were held in custody.

32Between January and June 2015, you were abusing, according to my calculations, up to four victims during the one timeframe.  In relation to three other complainants, your interaction escalated to face-to-face meetings, when sexual acts took place, including penile penetration, where in nearly every case, you failed to use protection of any kind, even in the face of protest from a particular complainant, and ejaculating inside her vagina.

33The charge of persistent sexual abuse of a child under 16 comprised 32 separate occasions of sexual penetration, which began when that complainant was 14, at one stage, resulting in her suffering a miscarriage.  Your response to another victim's request that you use protection of some kind, was to make a dismissive comment, and simply proceed.

34On most of the occasions of sexual abuse, you were at least ten years older than your particular victim, a fact well known to you.

35The charges of compelling sexual penetration, Charges 41 and 49, relate to two occasions where two separate victims, fearing you would carry out a threat to distribute intimate material you had obtained from them, complied with your request that in the case of the first, she insert her fingers and a hairbrush into her vagina, and the case of the second, a finger into her vagina.  That is, that you compelled each victim to penetrate her own vagina against her will, and without her consent.

36The two charges of procuring sexual penetration of a child under 16 years, being Charges 27 and 50, relate to (1) Charge 27, of you ordering the victim to allow another male to digitally penetrate her vagina while you watched on Skype, and (2) Charge 50, directing your 13-year-old victim to perform penetrative acts on her little brother, at which time he was thankfully asleep.

37There are two charges of sexual penetration of a child under 16 years on the indictment.  They being Charges 14 and 31.  Charge 14 is a representative charge, where after pressuring and eventually convincing your 14-year-old victim to provide photos and videos of herself undertaking sexual acts which you then filmed, you met her in Melbourne where you pulled her into a stairwell and ended up penetrating her vagina with your penis as she lay on the ground.

38On another occasion, at a park in Narre Warren behind a scout building, you introduced your fingers into her vagina, and then your penis.  When the victim complained, you told her to, "Just go with it."

39The second charge of sexual penetration of a child under 16, that is,
Charge 31, involved a victim who was age 14 to 15 years during the period of offending, at which time you were aged 24 and 25 years.  You told the victim you loved her, insisted that she send photographs of her torso and bottom without clothes on, got her to take her clothes off and finger herself on Skype, and video recorded her inserting a finger into her vagina.

40Then in mid-July 2014, you moved into a caravan in country Victoria, visited a complainant at her work and ultimately got her to visit you at the caravan.  In the face of her protest, you put her hands down her pants.  She stating she did not want to have sex, you responding, "You'll be fine."  Eventually, you inserted your fingers and then your penis into her vagina.  You did not use a condom, and when the victim asked about protection, you said, "You'll be fine" and ejaculated on her chest.

41Charge 32, a charge of indecent act with a child under 16 years, involved the same victim swimming with you at a nearby lake, during which time, you touched her under her underpants, despite her objections, and then rubbed her clitoris over her bikini bottoms.

42Charge 57, grooming for sexual conduct with a child under 16 years, involved a 14-year-old victim.  You at the time were 26, and the charge related to SMS contact between the two of you, whereby following flirtatious conversations over Instagram's messaging application, you asked her to send a photograph of her breasts, which inevitably led to threats of exposure by you, and that complainant digitally penetrating herself via Skype at your directions.

43There are 19 charges of producing child pornography, they being Charges 4, 5, 8, 11, 15, 18, 20, 24, 28, 33, 35, 38, 40, 42, 45, 46, 51, 54 and 59.  These comprised recordings you made of your victims undertaking sexual acts over Skype at your direction, usually as a result of a threat of exposure of other intimate material you had obtained from them, and which you inevitably made without their knowledge or consent.

44Charge 56, a charge of publication or transmission of child pornography, related to a 12-year-old victim who produced intimate material being photographs of her breasts and vagina, which you obtained from her after threatening to tell her boyfriend you had been chatting with her.  Her friend who was with her at time, intervened and threatened you, and you forwarded that material to that friend.

45Charge 62, possessing child pornography, related to material discovered in your possession over and above the material relating to the individual complainants in this case.  This material comprised 584 video files and 197 still images, resulting in a total of 781 files, comprising all classifications of such material contained on the CETS/ANVIL scale.

46It ranged from: Class 1 material, depiction of children with no sexual activity that is involving nudity, nakedness and sexually suggestive posing. Class 2; non-penetrative sexual activity between children or solo masturbation by a child; Class 3, non-penetrative sexual activity between a child and an adult, such as mutual masturbation; Class 4, penetrative sexual activity between children or a child and an adult; Class 5, sadism, bestiality, humiliation- that is urination, defecation, vomiting, bondage or other conduct, falling within the definition of child abuse in the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth). And Class 6.

47Class 7, non-illegal child material believed to form part of a series containing child exploitation material; and Class 8, adult pornography, being pornographic material not involving children.

48Charges 60 and 61, which are charges of failing to comply with reporting conditions, relate to your failure as a registered sexual offender under the Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004 to notify police of any internet, instant messaging, chat room or other usernames used to identify you through the internet or other electronic communication services.

49The police investigation revealed you had regular unsupervised contact with all 22 complainants, and failed to notify police in respect of 21 of them.  You were not registered as a sex offender for the entire period of the offending concerning the first victim.

50You did tell police about your contact with the 14-year-old victim of the charge of persistent sexual abuse of a child under 16 years, but stated during your annual review in February 2014, that she was helping you with a website and was aware that you were a registered sex offender.

51You also failed to notify police of the alias' you assumed while using the internet.  They being Samantha, Britt, BMX chick, Breanna Hall, Tiffany and USA girl-personas you often adopted, who were then presented as friends of yours and who then via social media, bullied, harassed, threatened or abused those of your victims who were beginning to resist your demands.

52The 13 charges of using a carried service to groom, they being Charges 1, 2, 6, 9, 12, 16, 21, 25, 29, 36, 43, 47 and 52, related to your use of various social media sites to make contact with your victims and engage in flattery, and then sexually explicit conversations with them, with a view to obtaining intimate photographs and video footage of them involving sexual activity.

53The 17 charges of using a carriage service for sexual activity, being Charges 3, 7, 10, 13, 17, 19, 22, 26, 30, 34, 37, 39, 44, 48, 53, 55 and 58, related to your use of carriage services such as webcam and Skye to observe your victims performing the various sexual acts I have described, often whilst you masturbated.

54I now turn to your personal circumstances.  You are 28 years of age.  Your mother was 15 when you were born and you grew up believing that her parents, your grandparents, were in fact your mother and father.  Your counsel told me that you grew up believing your mother was in fact your sister, and for reasons for which you did not understand, you had regular contact with your biological father, with whom you occasionally went to stay on the basis of he is a family friend.

55At the insistent of your biological father, you were informed of the real situation when you were 11.  There were some added complication to the situation as your mother had gone on to have a number of other children, one of whom was also raised by your grandparents, and whom you believed until you were 11, was in fact your niece.

56You have two other half-sisters who are born to your mother, but they have always lived with their father in New South Wales, and you have had no contact with them.  Another two younger half-brothers were removed from mother's care following their birth.

57Following the revelation of your true parentage, there was a brief attempt by you to live with your mother and your father separately, but they were failed attempts and you returned to live with your grandparents.  When you were 14, your grandmother, who you believed suffered from a schizophrenic condition, committed suicide following her involvement in a motor vehicle accident, and you believe, may have faced criminal charges arising from it, which coincidentally also involved the father of your half-sister.

58You had an interrupted education, your grand-father working as a farm labourer and the family moving frequently, you attending, you believe, ten or 11 schools.  You completed Year 9 at Pyramid Hill High School, and after a brief unsuccessful attempt at Year 10, obtained work for a year as a relief milker farmhand in the local area.

59You moved to Sydney where you worked briefly as a car detailer before returning to Pyramid Hill and working for several months at an abattoir.  You then worked for about six months at a pet food production company, which work ceased after an industrial accident where you severed the tips of two fingers.  You also worked for two seasons as a grapevine picker, and undertook an amount of bar work.

60You have, however, been self-employed since 2011, at which stage, you established your own internet company, Magic Grinding Wax.  This product is used by BMX freestyle and skateboard enthusiasts.  It is a product which protects their equipment and increases longevity of bikes and skateboards by reducing friction.  It is also used on skate park services

61Your counsel informed me this was a relatively successful business, although not making significant profits, and you also began selling BMX and skateboard parts for a retail shop run by a friend, and sold by you over the internet.

62You provided sponsorship for BMX and skateboard events in the Swan Hill area, and the business had prospered to the point that you were beginning to brand it, that is, produce stickers and so forth, until you were remanded in custody in 2015.

63Your time in gaol has been difficult.  You are held in protection at Port Phillip Prison, but the considerable media attention that has been given to this case has made life difficult.  You have been routinely targeted by other prisoners, bullied, threatened and assaulted.

64A psychiatric report compiled by Dr Leon Turnbull, dated 17 February 2017, was tendered on the plea.  It is appropriate at this point to refer to your prior criminal history, which is minimal, involving only possession of liquor under the age of 18 in 2007, and a theft for which you were dealt with in that year, resulting in the application of a non-conviction good behaviour bond for nine months.

65However, on 25 August 2008, you were placed on a 12 month suspended sentence for three charges of sexual penetration of a child under 16, and two charges of indecent act with a child under 16, and a 12 month community-based order on a charge of possessing child pornography.  Those charges arose from your relationship in January and February 2007 with a 13-year-old girl, at which time you had just turned 18, you meeting her via an internet chat room.  During that relationship, you penetrated her vagina digitally and orally.  She engaged in oral sex with you on another occasion and also masturbated your penis.  Police have found some still images on your computer of girls aged between 13 and 15.

66On that occasion, you conducted a full cooperative record of interview with police and the judge, on the basis that this was a consensual, albeit, age-inappropriate relationship, decided to deal with you via the dispositions I have outlined.

67Unbeknownst to Her Honour, you were at that time engaged in the criminal offending relating to victim One in the case before this court, which activity continued until 2008.  Her Honour placed you on the Sex Offenders Register, the conditions of which you then breached in a manner I have described as part of the offending which has brought you before the court on this occasion.

68You told Dr Turnbull that you received no sex offenders treatment, pursuant to keep your community corrections order.  You also said you believed you had been diagnosed with some personality afflictions, including antisocial or borderline personality disorders, and did attend a psychologist as part of the conditions of your community corrections order.

69You have had some involvement with drug use, but it appears not to have played a major part in your life prior to your incarceration, and your counsel did not submit it had any role to play in your subsequent offending.  Dr Turnbull stated,

"He said he was not drug or alcohol-affected when the events occurred, and much of the interaction was late at night when he was feeling lonely and watching pornography, and that it was, 'just out of desperation.'"

70You have had consenting sexual and age-appropriate relationships, the longest lasting five years, and the second longest a year.  You have a daughter born to your partner just prior to your involvement with the 13-year-old girl in 2007.  Her mother has had no contact with you since your charging for those offences, and you do not know where either she or your daughter live.

71You enjoyed the support of your siblings and grandfather until you were charged with this offending.  I note that you were sharing a flat with a friend at the time of your arrest, and that you continued to have some contact with him after you were placed in custody, involving some conversations about your desire to contact some of your victims in relation to the charges, which were considered relevant by the prosecution as potential admissions.

72Dr Turnbull wrote,

"He said on the one hand he knew it was wrong, but on the other hand, 'Most of the time I was just horny.  I didn't care who I talked to.'  He estimates that the youngest victim was about 11 years old, and upon confirming her age, "It was a shock.  She seemed older", and since then, has experienced, "Shock and disgust.  I went so young."  He emphasised again that age was not an arousing factor and that the only commonality amongst the victims were that they were, 'Just females.'"

73You also told Dr Turnbull you were exclusively interested in females, and that underage females were of no more attraction to you than adults.

74Dr Turnbull opined that you did not suffer from any major mental disorder, but agreed with another psychiatrist who had previously diagnosed you that, "Generally speaking, personality dysfunction in the realm of borderline personality is probably right."

75Dr Turnbull noted that you told him you were haunted by thoughts of suicide and self-harm, although you had successfully resisted urges to take your life, that you have a poor sense of self, and were somewhat emotionally unstable.  He stated,

"This blight on his personality is probably at least in part due to the less than straightforward upbringing he experience.  It does seem that over time, he has slightly emotionally matured, although his social circumstances seem to have remained less than stable."

76Importantly, he stated,

"There is limited psychiatric explanation for the offending.  Low self-esteem and poor social circumstances are probably factors, though they do not form specific motivation.  I do not see psychiatric illness specifically relevant to the breadth of the offending."

77He believed you could well have occasional episodes of self-harm and suicidal thoughts, "though they do seem to be lessening."

78It was conceded by the prosecution that yours was an early plea of guilty.  As against this, it was conceded by the defence that the case against you was an overwhelming one, much of it comprising the material you yourself had covertly recorded whilst forcing your victims into the sexual activity you directed.  Nevertheless, your plea of guilty has saved the community considerable time and expense, and your victims the trauma of giving evidence at trial.  Given the length and breadth of this offending, such savings must be counted as significant.

79Your counsel submitted I should find you are genuinely remorseful for your offending, above and beyond remorse accompanying discovery, apprehension and incarceration.  It was the prosecution's submission that the nature and breadth of your offending was contraindicative of this.  The prosecutor submitted that whilst you may have expressed shock and disgust at your offending, the fact remained that you did what you did repeatedly, well aware of the age of your victims, and in the face of their protests and distress.

80Further, this offending continued despite your appearance before the County Court in 2008, where the learned judge specifically spoke to you about the need to be careful of forming age-appropriate relationships, and which continued on unabated following the police raid on your home in January 2015.

81I do indeed have difficulty accepting that you have genuine remorse for the offending you engaged in, largely for the reasons advanced by the prosecution.  Your counsel informed me that you are very isolated within the gaol, as your family ceased contact with you once the media reports appeared.   You have a maternal aunt who has visited you once and continues with phone contact, but that is the only regular family contact you now enjoy.

82I accept that both this circumstance and the difficulties you have faced within the gaol as a result of media reports do mean that any sentence of imprisonment I impose will be rendered more difficult, and take that into account in sentencing you.

83I received a large number of victim impact statements, both from complainants and some of their family members.  They made for extremely distressing reading.  These were young girls, many of them barely adolescent, many of them sexually inexperienced, in that the activities they were lured or forced into by you were their first such experience.  Most of them now suffer anxiety and depression of some kind.  They have become socially reclusive, fear the world in general, have suffered ruptures within their families, suffer guilt and self-blame, require considerable support and find it difficult to attend to their education or participate in activities with friends.

84They remain unsurprisingly traumatised by their experiences at your hands, as do those of their parents who wrote victim impact statements.  As one father wrote, "I felt like I failed my primary responsibility.  To bear the pain of not protecting one's child is too great to bear for any parent."  Other victims wrote of continuing sleeplessness, nightmares, detachment from the world, fear of the world, chronic insecurity.  The list of ills and ill effects went on and on, and was entirely unsurprising in light of their sexual exploitation at your hands.

85One complainant much offended against by you courageously read her statement in court, and again, I congratulate her for that, and hope the experience has in some small way assisted in her recovery from the trauma you inflicted upon her.

86It was submitted by the prosecution that I should regard your rehabilitative prospects as poor.  It is often difficult for judges to make such a finding, but in your case, I find it to be appropriate.  Your background, although difficult and complex, is not one unknown to this court, and by no means provides an understandable framework for your descent into this abhorrent behaviour, which came to an end only with your arrest and incarceration.

87You continued to enjoy family support, especially from your grandfather.

88Psychiatric investigation, in my view, provided little in the way of further explanation.  Despite your appearance in the County Court in 2008 and the opportunity afforded you, despite even the police raid in January 2015, you continued to offend, knowing you were under police investigation, and in fact your offending appeared to escalate in that time.

89You knew the age of your victims.  You continued to make demands of them in the face of their evident distress.  The demands you made were delivered in the most callous and overbearing and bullying manner.  You appeared to relish the power you had over them.  For example, you ordered one victim to stand, to turn a chair upside down, and slide the leg into her vagina, stating, "You shouldn't be sitting on the floor, you should be standing over the leg."  You told her to moan, "Fuck me" and to moan, "Come in me dog."  And then the following conversation took place.

90You:  "No.  Do it now, last chance."  Victim:  "You have seen enough, I have done everything.  I have already pushed myself over the limit.  I physically cannot do it any more."  You:  "Just do it and I mean it, and keep moaning those words.  I told you to moan, and loud too, since I know no one is inside the house."  Victim:  "I'm crying just about."  You:  "Hurry up, you're wasting time."

91On that occasion, you had forced the victim to engage in sexual activity, which included inserting a pen and chair leg into her vagina, and getting a dog to lick her vagina over a period of three hours.  On another occasion, when that victim protested, you threatened to show pictures to her family, listing the names of 11 of her friends from her Facebook account, stating, "For every five minutes that goes by, I'll tag another friend of yours."  It was that victim's birthday.  She had a party that night.  She begged you to stop because her family was coming over, you replying it did not matter, it would take five minutes.  Finally, when the victim told you she was leaving for her party, you responded, "Okay, have fun, because all your friends will see the videos and pics with your face in it.  So, you either spare five minutes, or I will never delete them, and I'll send the pics to your mother right now.  You have two mins to reply or I'll send them."

92This callous and dominating attitude was replicated in conversations over and over with other victims, demanding that they undertake one or other depraved and perverted activity "now", or the material you had obtained would be published on Facebook, or sent to friends and family, you often heightening the pressure by saying your subject had 30 seconds to comply.  You told victims how to position themselves, how fast and hard they were to conduct the vaginal penetrations you ordered, and so on.

93When a 13-year-old girl you forced into sexual behaviour with her small brother protested at your further demands, you told her she could now be gaoled for incest and threatened to send the film material to police.  Several times you told young victims protesting at the form of penetration required of them to imagine it was your "cock" inside them.  You treated these young girls as objects, demanding they undertake ever-more depraved and perverted activities, forcing them to continue over prolonged periods of time in the face of their evident distress and sometimes pain.

94You continually stated to Dr Turnbull that you are not sexually attracted to young females, that is, you are not what technically might be called a hebephile or a person sexually attracted to young adolescents.  It certainly appears you have the capacity to engage in age-appropriate relationships.  This is not of assistance to you, however, it leads to the conclusion in my view, that you deliberately sought out victims who were vulnerable because of their young age.  Thus, they were more easily able to be dominated and controlled by you.  This offending represented an exercise of sadistic power by you, which grew more insatiable as time went on.  It is as if you saw the internet as providing you with a vast array of vulnerable teenagers whom you could prey upon, exploit and terrorise as the wind took you.

95Older, more experience females would have been far less likely to be so readily impressed by you, to have forwarded intimate material of themselves, submit then to your later demands, or be so easily dissuaded from reporting you to police on your nonsensical assertions that you were smarter, unable to be captured by police, had dated a lawyer, or that they themselves would have been in trouble for the activities you forced them into.

96It seems an inescapable conclusion that you deliberately targeted this age group because of your capacity to exploit the youth of these, for the most part, very young teenage girls, and make them do precisely what you wanted.  Nor would more mature women have accepted with anything but contempt your repeated assertions as to the enormous size of your penis.

97I do not accept the, "disgust" and "shock" you purport to now feel at your offending, as you said to Dr Turnbull.  As I have stated several times in these sentencing remarks, you had more than ample opportunity to come to that conclusion well before police intervention ended the nine year reign of trauma you inflicted.  The material clearly demonstrates your continuing disregard for the appalling distress displayed by so many victims in their dealings with you.

98In the end, there is very little that can be said on your behalf, beyond the migratory matters of the early plea of guilty, and the associated benefits to the victim and the community, your difficulties in prison, your lack of prior convictions, and the unsurprisingly adverse media publicity you have attracted.  Yours was prolonged, classically predatory, depraved, cruel and remorseless behaviour, which demonstrated with appalling clarity, the dangers inherent in social media, requiring the formulation of punitive legislation designed to protect, as far as it can, the young and vulnerable from persons as yourself.  It would not be unfair to classify you as a monster of depravity.

99Despite your counsel's very creditable plea in the circumstances on your behalf, I am unable to regard your prospects of rehabilitation as anything but poor, and to see you as anything other than a continuing danger to the community.

100It is clear that this is a case where principles of community protection, general deterrence, just punishment, condemnation and condign punishment dominate the sentencing exercise before me.  In relation to the State charges, you are to be sentenced as a serious sexual offender, and I note the prosecution does not seek a disproportionate sentence.

101It was also submitted, I should not impose a crushing sentence upon you, and this is a submission I do take into account in formulating the appropriate term of imprisonment applicable in your case.  I therefore sentence you as follows.  Can you stand up please?

102Now, could I just state to counsel.  This is going to take some time, because of the mix of Commonwealth and State offending.  So, I will just go through the sentences I have imposed in relation to each charge, and then I will go through the obligatory dates that are to be attached to the Commonwealth offending and the cumulation that I have then undertaken.

103Charge 1, six months' imprisonment.

104Charge 2, nine months' imprisonment.

105Charge 3, four years' imprisonment.

106Charge 4, two years' imprisonment.

107Charge 5, nine months' imprisonment.

108Charge 6, six months' imprisonment.

109Charge 7, 18 months' imprisonment.

110Charge 8, eight months' imprisonment.

111Charge 9, six months' imprisonment.

112Charge 10, nine months' imprisonment.

113Charge 11, six months' imprisonment.

114Charge 12, eight months' imprisonment.

115Charge 13, 12 months' imprisonment.

116Charge 14, three years' imprisonment.

117Charge 15, 12 months' imprisonment.

118Charge 16, six months' imprisonment.

119Charge 17, 18 months' imprisonment.

120Charge 18, 12 months' imprisonment.

121Charge 19, 12 months' imprisonment.

122Charge 20, eight months' imprisonment.

123Charge 21, nine months' imprisonment.

124Charge 22, three years' imprisonment.

125Charge 23, five years' imprisonment.

126Charge 24, 18 months' imprisonment.

127Charge 25, six months' imprisonment.

128Charge 26, 18 months' imprisonment.

129Charge 27, two years' imprisonment.

130Charge 28, 12 months' imprisonment.

131Charge 29, 12 months' imprisonment.

132Charge 30, 18 months' imprisonment.

133Charge 31, two years and six months' imprisonment.

134Charge 32, six months' imprisonment.

135Charge 33, 12 months' imprisonment.

136Charge 34, eight months' imprisonment.

137Charge 35, six months' imprisonment.

138Charge 36, nine months' imprisonment.

139Charge 37, two years' imprisonment.

140Charge 38, 18 months' imprisonment.

141Charge 39, 12 months' imprisonment.

142Charge 40, 12 months' imprisonment.

143Charge 41, four years' imprisonment.

144Charge 42, 12 months' imprisonment.

145Charge 43, nine months' imprisonment.

146Charge 44, ten months' imprisonment.

147Charge 45, eight months' imprisonment.

148Charge 46, nine months' imprisonment.

149Charge 47, 12 months' imprisonment.

150Charge 48, 14 months' imprisonment.

151Charge 49, three years' imprisonment.

152Charge 50, four years' imprisonment.

153Charge 51, 15 months' imprisonment.

154Charge 52, nine months' imprisonment.

155Charge 53, three years' imprisonment.

156Charge 54, 15 months' imprisonment.

157Charge 55, 18 months' imprisonment.

158Charge 56, six months' imprisonment.

159Charge 57, nine months' imprisonment.

160Charge 58, two years' imprisonment.

161Charge 59, 15 months' imprisonment.

162Charge 60, two years and six months' imprisonment.

163Charge 61, 18 months' imprisonment.

164Charge 62, 18 months' imprisonment.

165The way I have done it, gentlemen, is I have begun with the Commonwealth sentencing.  So, I will now go through the dates on which those sentences begin.  You can sit down.  Thank you sir.

166Charge 3.  And these are the Commonwealth charges.  That sentence will begin on 22 March 2017.

167Charge 22 will begin 22 September 2018.

168Charge 37 will begin 22/03/2019.

169Charge 53 will begin 22/09/2018.

170Charge 58 will begin 22/032021.

171Charge 1 will begin 22/10/2022.

172Charge 2 will begin 22/09/2022.

173Charge 6 will begin 22/12/2022.

174Charge 7 will begin 22/01/2022.

175Charge 9 will begin 22/02/2022.

176Charge 10 will begin 22/12/2022.

177Charge 12 will begin 22/02/2022.

178Charge 13 will begin 22/11/2022.

179Charge 16 will begin 22/06/2023.

180Charge 17 will begin 22/07/2022.

181Charge 19 will begin 22/02/2023.

182Charge 21 will begin 22/07/2023.

183Charge 25 will begin 22/10/2023.

184Charge 26 will begin 22/11/2022.

185Charge 29 will begin 22/06/2023.

186Charge 30 will begin 22/01/2023.

187Charge 34 will begin 22/12/2023.

188Charge 36 will begin 22/12/2023.

189Charge 39 will begin 22/10/2023.

190Charge 43 will begin 22/02/2014.

191Charge 44 will begin 22/02/2024.

192Charge 47 will begin 22/01/2024.

193Charge 48 will begin 22/12/2023.

194Charge 52 will begin 22/06/2024.

195Charge 55 will begin 22/10/2023.

196The total effective sentence is this.  The base sentence is a sentence imposed on - this is the effect of this sentencing.  The base sentence is Charge 3, which is four years.  I have ordered that six months of each of the sentences imposed on Charges 22, 37, 53 and 58 be served cumulatively to the base sentence and to each other, and I have ordered that one month of each of the sentences on the remaining charges, they being Charges 1, 2, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16, 17, 19, 21, 25, 26, 29, 30, 34, 36, 39, 43, 44, 47, 48, 52 and 55 also be served cumulatively to the sentence imposed on Charge 3 and to all other sentences, giving a total effective sentence of eight years and one month.

197I now turn to the State charges.  The base sentence for the State charge will be the sentence imposed on Charge 23, that is five years' imprisonment.  I order that six months of the sentences on Charges 14, 41, 49 and 50 be served cumulatively to the base sentence and to each other, and that one month of each of the sentences imposed on Charges 4, 5, 8, 11, 15, 18, 20, 24, 27, 28, 31, 32, 33, 35, 38, 40, 42, 45, 46, 51, 54, 56, 57, 59, 60, 61 and 62 be served cumulatively to the base sentence and all other sentences, giving a total effective sentence of nine years and three months' imprisonment.

198I order that the State sentence begin on 22 December 2019.  That, by my calculations, gives a total effective sentence of 12 years, and I order that ten years be served before he becomes eligible for parole.  Now, I have not done separate maximum and minimum terms, Mr Kissane, because by my reckoning, by the time Mr Meharry becomes eligible for parole, the Commonwealth sentences will have expired.  The end date for the last sentence is 2025, and he will not be eligible for parole - no, it is not 19.  I beg your pardon, sorry.  The state sentence is to begin on - I have made a mistake, that should be 2017.

199MR KISSANE:  Except that, my understanding Your Honour, is that
Your Honour is obliged to fix a non-parole period in relation to the Commonwealth sentences, and to then start the State sentences before the end of that non-parole period.

200HER HONOUR:  Yes.  No look, I checked with that.  I thought it was because the State period had - the Commonwealth period had expired, I might not need to do that.  Well, look.  What I might do, I will need to go back and recalculate that.  So, I have given, I think at this stage ‑ ‑ ‑

201MR KISSANE:  Your Honour's indicated an overall sentence, which ‑ ‑ ‑

202HER HONOUR:  Yes, and I have indicated the start date for each of the Commonwealth sentences.

203MR KISSANE:  Yes, but I think there's still an obligation under Commonwealth legislation to fix a non-parole period, once the sentence ‑ ‑ ‑

204HER HONOUR:  Look, I do not want to do that sitting here and calculating it now, because I am bound to make a mistake.

205MR KISSANE:  Yes.

206HER HONOUR:  So, what I will do is I will work that out.

207MR KISSANE:  Yes, certainly Your Honour.

208HER HONOUR:  I have also, in relation to the five summary offences, imposed a sentence of imprisonment of two months on each of those charges.  They are to be served concurrently.  What is the PSD please?

209MR KISSANE:  PSD is 593 days.

210HER HONOUR:  I declare that 593 days of this sentence have already been served by way of pre-sentence detention.  I also declare that had you not pleaded guilty, I would have sentenced you to a term of 14 years, and order you served a minimum term of 12 years.  All right?  I think - yes, Mr Kissane.

211MR KISSANE:  There were just two things, Your Honour, when Your Honour comes to - and I do not think these make any difference over all.  But when Your Honour comes to revise your sentence, I think Your Honour said in relation to the maximum penalty for Charge 62, ten years, was my recollection at the beginning of Your Honour's sentence, when it was in fact five years on the chart, and I have checked that and it was five years.  I heard that.

212HER HONOUR:  All right.  I actually couldn't find the maximum penalties in the summary.

213MR KISSANE:  No, there was a separate chart, Your Honour, that was handed up.

214HER HONOUR:  All right.  I have obviously lost it.  So, that should be ‑ ‑ ‑

215MR KISSANE:  Charge 62.  I think Your Honour said ten years, which is the current penalty, but at the time, it was five years.  Your Honour imposed a sentence of 18 months, I think on that, which ‑ ‑ ‑

216HER HONOUR:  All right.  So, I have stated at the outset that the two charges imply the maximum penalty for which was five years.

217MR KISSANE:  Sorry.  Your Honour talked about possession child pornography at the very - probably the first page.

218HER HONOUR:  I thought possession of child pornography.

219MR KISSANE:  Yes, possession.

220HER HONOUR:  The maximum penalty had been increased to ten years by the time he was ‑ ‑ ‑

221MR KISSANE:  The increase was on 22 September 2015, I think. 
1 December 2015.

222HER HONOUR:  Right.

223MR KISSANE:  And I think that it was just before then.

224HER HONOUR:  So, I thought it was - so, it is five years?

225MR KISSANE:  Yes.  Now whether that makes any difference to Your Honour's sentencing circumstances, I do not know how much.

226HER HONOUR:  It would make a difference.

227MR KISSANE:  Your Honour probably only gave a month's cumulation in relation to Charge 62.  I'm not ‑ ‑ ‑

228HER HONOUR:  No, is Charge 62 the possession of child pornography?

229MR KISSANE:  Yes.

230HER HONOUR:  All right.  Yes, well I would still do the month's cumulation.  It is just, you know, I have been following Court of Appeal dicter, which is that - the way you go about is appropriate sentence for each charge, and then there is cumulation.  So, rather than 18 months in the circumstances, I will make that six months.  But there is still one month cumulation.

231MR KISSANE:  Yes, and the other thing is that - and this again is a minor matter in Your Honour's sentencing remarks.  My instructor thought she heard
Your Honour say that there was an insertion of a camera into the vagina at some stage, and I am not sure that was ‑ ‑ ‑

232HER HONOUR:  There was.

233MR KISSANE:  Yes, I do not know which victim that was in relation to, but ‑ ‑ ‑

234HER HONOUR:  Well, I am almost certain that there was, going through the summary.  There was one girl who refused and another girl who did it, and I think, in fact, it was the last one.

235MR KISSANE:  Yes.

236HER HONOUR:  I do not know if I have the summary with me.  Just excuse me.  If you have a look, I think it was the last one.

237MR KISSANE:  There is reference to the camera in between her legs.

238HER HONOUR:  All right.  Well, I will go and have a look at that, but I am ‑ ‑ ‑

239MR KISSANE:  So, I mean, again, I do not think it will make any difference necessarily to Your Honour's overall sentence, but just was not sure it was a matter of factual basis ‑ ‑ ‑

240HER HONOUR:  No look, fair enough.  If that seems ‑ ‑ ‑

241MR KISSANE:  ‑ ‑ ‑ that, that was correct.

242HER HONOUR:  All right.  Well, I will have a look at that and see if I can sort that.  Is there anything else?

243MR KISSANE:  No, Your Honour.  The only other suggestion I can make,
Your Honour, is if Your Honour looks at that case of Watson.  The way the
Court of Appeal sentenced there.  They did fix two non-parole periods, and they started the ‑ ‑ ‑

244HER HONOUR:  No.  I spoke to - all right.  I had thought - it was sought because of the - so, the disposal order needed to be signed.  Have I given you those back?

245MR KISSANE:  The order is there - ancillary orders have all been done I think, Your Honour, yes.

246HER HONOUR:  They have all been done.  Yes, Mr Meharry will be placed on the sex offenders registration for life.  So, Mr Meharry is placed on the sex offenders register for life.  Thank you.  Is there anything further?

247MR KISSANE:  No, Your Honour.  The only I wondered is if - I do not know whether Your Honour produced a chart of all those sentences and starting dates, but if one could be made available at Your Honour's earliest convenience, then we can just check that.

248HER HONOUR:  I will do that.  I will get that sorted.  We might come back at 2.15.  I do not know that Mr Meharry needs to be brought back necessarily, just to sort out the proper way of sentencing in this, that I have to do a maximum and minimum on each.

249MR KISSANE:  Yes, Your Honour, and the way it works is if Your Honour starts to say State sentence second, then Your Honour has to start that before the end of the non-parole period.

250HER HONOUR:  Yes, sure.

251MR KISSANE:  So that there is no gap.  So, Your Honour has to work out when that ends.  I know it is not easy and it may well  - to get to Your Honour's overall ‑ ‑ ‑

252HER HONOUR:  I really thought that because - if I did the Commonwealth sentences first, that because they had expired by the time the non-parole period would begin, and it would be pursuant to State sentence.  There would not be the need for the double up.

253MR KISSANE:  Yes.  I think that the trouble with that is that both the Commonwealth and the State legislation are expressed in terms of start dates before the end of the non-parole period, and so, I can look at this again, but as I understand it as I stand here on my feet, Your Honour starts the Commonwealth sentence is first.  Puts a start day of today, fixes a head sentence, effectively a non-parole period, then the State sentences must start before the end of that.

254HER HONOUR:  That is going to make it very, very difficult to achieve the ultimate result, in terms of the non-parole period.  Anyway, we will have a look at it later.  I will come back at 2.15 and we will have another look at it.

255MR KISSANE:  Yes.  All right, thank you, Your Honour.

256HER HONOUR:  Thank you.  If you could take Mr Meharry down, thank you.  Sorry, just to indicate.  This matter has been placed on the County Court portals for press who need it, if that is any help, and yes.  All right, thank you.

257MR KISSANE:  Can I just make one more suggestion, Your Honour? 

258HER HONOUR:  Yes.

259MR KISSANE:  Your Honour, I think the way to do it is to adjust Your Honour's start date for the State sentences.  Your Honour made a start date of those of the ‑ ‑ ‑

260HER HONOUR:  No, I will have to change that.  I am aware of that.  Very annoying, Mr Kissane.  Maths was never my strong point.

261MR KISSANE:  Well, Your Honour, that ‑ ‑ ‑

262HER HONOUR:  Always a humanity ‑ ‑ ‑

263MR KISSANE:  These combined sentences cause difficulties for everybody.

264HER HONOUR:  This is so - I mean, it has been going on for forever.  You would think there would be some sort of map.  Anyway ‑ ‑ ‑

265MR KISSANE:  Maybe one day the Commonwealth will change its approach.

266HER HONOUR:  Pardon?

267MR KISSANE:  Maybe one day the Commonwealth will change its approach.

268HER HONOUR:  Yes, right.  Thank you.  All right, so.  Very well.  I thank counsel for their assistance in this matter and we will stand down.

269HER HONOUR:  Please be seated.  If it is just 2.15.  Do you think that
Mr Meharry should be here at 2.15?

270MR STURGES:  That would be my preference, Your Honour.

271HER HONOUR:  You would?

272MR STURGES:  Yes.

273HER HONOUR:  All right.  It would simply be the discussion about how I frame it.  Whether I have to do the two lots of head and minimum terms.

274MR STURGES:  If it is an issue for custody management, and their preference is that he be taken back, I am happy to pass on whatever occurs.

275HER HONOUR:  Well, do you think - Mr Kissane, have you got any views about it?

276MR KISSANE:  I think it is better that he is here, Your Honour.

277HER HONOUR:  Yes, probably is.  Probably.  All right then.  Thank you.

278MR KISSANE:  Thank you, Your Honour.

279HER HONOUR:  Well, he will get on the 4 o'clock bus at any event.  All right.  Thank you very much.

‑ ‑ ‑