Director of Public Prosecutions v Ranjbari

[2015] VCC 403

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

 Revised
(Not) Restricted

 Suitable for Publication

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR-15-00062

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

ABDOLMAJID RANJBARI

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE GUCCIARDO
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:
DATE OF SENTENCE:	31 March 2015
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v RANJBARI
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2015] VCC 403

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	Ms S. McGirvan
For the Offender	Ms A. Beech

HIS HONOUR: 

1Abdolmajid Ranjbari, between January and August 2014, you took part in a number of online communications in text and by video chat with several persons whom you believed to be under 16 years of age.  These communications and the subsequent charges that arise out of them were summarised in a document tendered by the prosecution as Exhibit A which will be retained by the court on its file. 

2For the purpose of this sentence, it is sufficient to say as to Charge 1 that between 9 and 14 January 2014, you had a number of conversations with an undercover police officer and you believed that person to be a young girl of 14.  During the conversation, you communicated with her with the intention of procuring her to engage in sexual activity by way of explicit conversations.  You also masturbated during some of these exchanges while the officer could see you.  You asked her to take part in a sexual role play and told a pornographic story which is the subject of Charge 4. 

3On 16 January 2014, your previous identity having been blocked by the police officer, you adopted another identity to contact her online.  Although the supposed girl was in Perth, you told her you were going there on business and you suggested a meeting and made a number of personal enquiries about her.  This was the subject of Charge 2 of grooming.

4Charge 3 relates to indecent communications transmitted between 17 and 28 January 2014 using other identities which you used in relation to the same girl and another.  You assumed identities of a 17 or 18-year-old during these exchanges which were of a salacious sexual nature and contained indecent suggestions.

5In August 2014, you were arrested and interviewed.  You made some admissions and said that when you were shown masturbating, you were drunk, but denied being sexually excited.  You were not able to provide a coherent explanation as to why you told the stories. 

6Using a carriage service to procure persons under 16 years of age for sexual activity carries a maximum sentence of 15 years, as does transmitting child pornography.  Using a carriage service to groom a person under 16 years of age for sexual activity carries a 12 year maximum sentence.  Transmitting indecent conversations by way of a carriage service carries a maximum sentence of seven years.  By these maxima, the law reflects the seriousness of this offending and I take these into account. 

7I first look to the objective seriousness of your offending.  The offending did not involve real child victims but undercover police officers, and though this is not a mitigating factor, it lacks, in my view, the aggravation had there been real children at the other end of the line.  The distance from you to the victim was one which, though you indicated could be overcome, meant in fact that you would not actually have ever had ready access to these young persons. 

8The conduct extended over a period of seven months and so it can be said to have been sustained and a course of conduct.  The material communicated, though explicit and salacious, were contained mainly in stories.  But it is clear that images of you masturbating must be punished as totally unacceptable behaviour.  It cannot be said that your behaviour has had an impact upon a victim as most sexual crimes do.  There can be no doubt that the offending was for sexual gratification and it is not ameliorated by your intoxication, though no doubt such a state would provide a disinhibiting factor. 

9It is clear that the element of specific deterrence for someone of your age and background must be a consideration for me to take into account and I do.  You are versed in the use of computers and have a facility with language and are a person who is said to enjoy storytelling.  The sentence of the court must deter you in the future from this abhorrent behaviour.  General deterrence of course must be a paramount consideration and recognised as such by the sentence, to dissuade others from this behaviour in the knowledge that it will be dealt with as a serious matter by the Court.  Punishment for this offending must be proportionate and clear, and in my view, the offending, though serious, is properly at the lower to middle range of offending of this nature, although it falls squarely  as the mischief  which the legislation seeks to address. 

10In sentencing you, I have had regard to the matters and each of them set out in part 1b of the Crimes Act, particularly each of the matters set out in s.16(A).  Although you appeared in part to not show remorse in your interview, in my view, your plea is accompanied by remorse and contrition and I will get to those matters in a moment.  Your plea is a significant mitigating factor, demonstrating a willingness to facilitate justice, take responsibility for your offending and is indicative of remorse. 

11The plea here was entered at the earliest opportunity.  It is clear that you come before the court as a man with no prior criminal history, although it is also clear that in this area of offending  frequently offenders come before the court without convictions. This lack of criminal antecedents should be given less weight than is usually the case. 

12In my view, based on the personal circumstances outlined, your prospects for rehabilitation are good, particularly if any offence specific program administered is undertaken by you.  In my view, the aspects of punishment and general and specific deterrence in your case can properly be met with the imposition of a community corrections order.  Such a disposition here is not only appropriate because it would be seen to be more consistent with the rehabilitative aims rather than punitive aims of the sentence, but because the synthesis of circumstances of the offences and the offender in this case lead to my determination that such an order constitutes appropriate deterrence and denunciation and has the effect to exact proportionate punishment in all of the circumstances. 

13Section 20(A)(B) of the Commonwealth Crimes Act incorporates the Sentencing Act 1991 of Victoria and so community correction orders for federal offenders are available. I have, in this determination, considered the cases which were referred to by the prosecution and this morning by the defence, particularly Bolton's case. 

14You are 46 years old.  You have no prior convictions.  You were born in Iran and you reached university studies in translation at the University of Tehran.  You married, and with your wife, you had a good work history.  A son was born to you.  In March 2010, you moved to Australia with your family.  You had been accepted to a Master's degree at Monash University.  You needed to complete a bridging course before commencing this degree and you completed a number of graduate certificates in teaching, languages and translation with Holmesglen, Cambridge University, the Box Hill Institute, the Victorian Multicultural Commission and NAATI. 

15I viewed a number of diplomas and certificates tendered on your behalf.  You are now qualified as a professional level interpreter and you are completing a Master's degree in international development practice at Monash University.  You live with your wife and your 14 year old son.  Your wife is a pathologist, and having been born Muslims, you are now both practicing Christians and I have read references from your pastor which I take into account. 

16You engaged with your GP since your arrest to arrange for a mental health plan and a referral to a psychologist, Mr Sharman, who provided a report to the Court, as well as a counsellor.  You continue to see these professionals on a regular basis.  You now consume alcohol only once a week, limited to one drink. 

17Your offending began at a time when your wife and son were away and you resorted to the internet for company and developed an unsavoury habit while drinking excessively, perhaps.  In my view, these matters, when placed beside the circumstances of your offending, require a disposition which adequately punishes, and at the same time, bestows on the community the long term benefit of rehabilitation and reclamation of an individual.  These are objects which, at times, imprisonment fails to achieve.  In my view, such a disposition, skewed as it is towards retribution and deterrence, in this case is not the only option left to the Court.  There is little in the synthesis of factors, in my view, which in this case requires the conclusion that imprisonment and all its disadvantages is the only option available to me. 

18In my view, your prospects for rehabilitation are good, as I have said, with prospects of employment, ongoing study, family support and community and church involvement.  The references that I have referred to emphasise the shame you have felt and the genuine remorse for your behaviour.  Clemency in this case is not inappropriate and I have also taken into account the report provided to the court by Mr Martin Sharman, the clinical psychologist.  You have actively engaged with therapy, but it is clear you will benefit from a targeted sex offender program and I intend to make your attendance upon such a program a condition of the community corrections order. 

19The Community Correctional Services found you, upon assessment, to be suitable.  I will order that you be placed on a community corrections order in relation to the four charges for a period of 18 months; that you receive assessment and treatment for alcohol and mental health treatment and monitoring and you will undergo assessment and participation in the sex offender advice and treatment services. 

20You will be supervised by Ringwood Community Correctional Services and I will order that the order be subject to judicial monitoring.  You will report to the Ringwood offices within two days from today.  Although I did not request an assessment for a condition of community work, I do order that you perform 120 hours of community work. 

21The offence under s.474.26 of the Criminal Code 1995 is a registrable offence as defined in the Act, and therefore you will be subject to the obligations which arise under the Sex Offender Registration Act 2004 for a period of eight years.

22Although I do not have regard to these consequences, which are onerous, in my sentence, I should advise you to pay close attention to them and to those obligations for that period of time. 

23But for your plea, I would have sentenced you to 12 months' imprisonment.

24I will set a judicial monitoring date in a moment.  Are there any other ancillary orders that I need to make?

25MS McGIRVAN:  No, I don't believe so, Your Honour.

26HIS HONOUR:  No.  There were no disposal orders or forfeiture orders?

27MS McGIRVAN:  No, Your Honour.  The AFP have indicated they can sanitise the computer and return it.

28HIS HONOUR:  Yes. 

29I will set the day of 5 October, a Monday, at 9.30 for mention of judicial monitoring.

30MS BEECH:  Thank you, Your Honour. 

31MS McGIRVAN:  Sorry, Your Honour, there is one thing I should raise. 

32HIS HONOUR:  Yes. 

33MS McGIRVAN:  Your Honour detected an error in the indictment, in the spelling of the accused's name, which I have amended. 

34HIS HONOUR:  Yes, thank you.

35MS McGIRVAN:  Sorry, Your Honour, I'll give it to your associate; I can't put my hand on it right now.

36HIS HONOUR:  That's fine.  I think it had to do with a letter missing from his name; is that right?

37MS McGIRVAN:  It is here, Your Honour.  Thank you.  I'll tender that.

38HIS HONOUR:  Yes, thank you.  That's 5 October 9.30 for judicial monitoring.

39MS BEECH:  Thank you, Your Honour.

40MS McGIRVAN:  As Your Honour pleases.

41HIS HONOUR:  Thank you both for your assistance.  Sine die.

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