Director of Public Prosecutions v Scott
[2017] VCC 1564
•27 October 2017
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised (Not) Restricted Suitable for Publication |
AT LATROBE VALLEY
CRIMINAL JURISDICTIONCR 17-01588
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| DARRAN SCOTT |
---
| JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE SMALLWOOD |
| WHERE HELD: | Latrobe Valley |
| DATE OF HEARING: | 27 October 2017 |
| DATE OF SENTENCE: | 27 October 2017 |
| CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Scott |
| MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2017] VCC 1564 |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director of Public Prosecutions | Mr P. Triandos | The Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Mr G. Georgiou | Doogue + George Criminal Lawyers |
HIS HONOUR:
1Darran Scott, you have pleaded guilty to charges of indecent assault, Charge 1, maximum five years; indecent assault, Charge 2, maximum five years; sexual penetration of a child aged 16 or 17 under care, supervision or authority, Charge 3, maximum three years; indecent act with a child under the age of 16, Charges 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, maximum ten years; persistent sexual abuse of a child under 16, Charge 10, maximum 25 years; indecent act with a child aged 16 or 17 under care, supervision or authority, Charge 11, maximum penalty five years; indecent act with a child under the age of 16, Charges 12, 13, 14 and 15, ten years maximum; attempt to pervert the course of justice, Charge 16, 25 years maximum.
2You have also pleaded guilty to four uplifted summary matters involving firearms, each one of which has a maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment. I do not propose to enter into that. So I will simply say that on each of those charges you are to be sentenced to be imprisoned for a period of one month which will be served concurrently with each other and with the sentence imposed on the indictment.
3You are now 53 years of age. You pleaded guilty and avoided a trial and you must get the utilitarian benefit of that plea of guilty.
4Insofar as remorse is concerned, it is very difficult to ascertain anything other than self-pity contained within the psychological reports and I have no reason to doubt that. However in the circumstances where there is a plea of guilty, I will give you the benefit of the doubt insofar as remorse is concerned, though it is a long way from the remorse that one would have anticipated for a man who has done the damage that you have.
5I am aware that Charges 8 and 11 are representative and are therefore not to be treated in isolation. In this particular scenario where there are so many victims of your offending, that becomes a little bit meaningless.
6Pursuant to s.464ZF of the Crimes Act I can order that you provide a forensic sample for DNA purposes. That order having been made, I must advise you that should you refuse to provide such a sample, police may use reasonable force to take it from you and that order is made and handed down.
7Because of the offending, you will be placed on the sex offenders register and I advise you the reporting conditions upon that register will be for life. You will now be given the documentation in relation to that. If you could go down to the dock with my associate please Mr Georgiou.
8While that is happening I will exhibit that letter as a Crown exhibit just in case anybody wants to later on have a look at it.
9MR TRIANDOS: Yes, Your Honour.
10HIS HONOUR: That is Exhibit C.
11MR TRIANDOS: Yes, there are two letters, Your Honour.
12HIS HONOUR: I see, sorry. Yes, both of them, the same concept.
13Because of the sentences that I intend to impose, as I understand it, you will be sentenced as a serious sexual offender on Charges 4 to 16 inclusive. I am aware that therefore in respect of those charges, community protection becomes the principle sentencing purpose. The Crown do not seek a disproportionate sentence. I am aware that unless ordered otherwise there is to be assumed cumulation.
14Because of the number of charges and principles of totality obviously in this situation I will be ordering concurrency but I will do it in reverse by expressing it as cumulation because it is a lot easier for the authorities to then calculate.
15The summary charges I have indicated, you are simply to be imprisoned on those. There is nothing sinister about the firearms that were there and the Crown accept the explanations that you have given.
16The situation is that you are now 53 years of age and were born in 1963. You have pleaded guilty to 13 discreet charges, two representative charges and one persistent sexual abuse charge. The sexual offences were committed against 11 victims over a period of almost 25 years.
17People appreciate that this is to be anonymised and not reported with any names or any descriptions but for these purposes I will be saying people's names.
18The victims are Victim 1, Charge 1, Victim 2, Charge 2, Victim 3, Charge 3, Victim 4, Charges 4 and 5, Victim 5, Charge 6, Victim 6, Charge 7, Victim 7, Charges 8 and 9, Victim 8, the persistent sexual abuse, Victim 9, Charge 11, Victim 10, Charges 12, 13 and 14 and Victim 11, Charges 15 and 16.
19That offending commenced in around about 1990 and continued on through, as indicated, a quarter of a century. It is important in my view to note here that in January 2005, you were interviewed in respect of sexual offending against children and you denied any such sexual offending.
20You would have been, as the psychologist ultimately agreed, declared at that point in time on the test that they now use, as a low risk of reoffending. However over the next ten years you reoffended against another five victims.
21In the 1990s you were involved with the Endeavour Hills Football Club as a coach for junior football teams. You moved to Phillip Island around about 2000 and regularly surfed at the local beach.
22In approximately 2005 or 2006 you moved to Archie's Creek. The information would suggest you became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in around 2005 which would appear to have been after you were interviewed by the police for sexual offending.
23It is through those various activities, clubs and community involvement that the victims came into contact with you. Most of those victims were groomed by you and in ways that would become apparent, involved the use of sedatives in some situations, sleeping pills, alcohol, pornography and other ways of going about it. Different ways were used in each situation.
24It cannot be said other than you groomed these children and I can only describe you, after 25 years as a sexual predator and evasive, you got away with it for 25 years.
25Victim 1 is currently aged 43 years of age. He went to school in Dandenong. He met you when he was playing football with friends. You asked him and his friends to join the football club where you were a coach. During that conversation you showed the boys pornographic magazines.
26Victim 1 joined the football club and played with the club for three seasons, in each of which he was coached by you. You spent time with him and teammates outside of the football club, taking them on outings and camping trips. You would often show them pornographic material, buy them alcohol and supply them with marijuana. They are all uncharged acts; they simply go to the context of what I find to be grooming.
27During 1990, you were 26 years of age. Victim 1 turned 16 in June 1990. On occasion in that year when he was in the under 16s, you went camping to the Dargo High Plains. You slept in a tent together.
28As you were about to go to sleep, you reached over with your hand and touched Victim 1's penis. That gives rise to indecent assault. He was shocked and felt dirty and disgusted by what you had done. The following day you left and drove him home.
29Victim 2 is currently aged 38 years of age. He was playing again for Endeavour Hills Football Club in the early to mid-1990s and you were his coach for the three seasons that he played.
30He, as others had observed, that you would often spend time with players outside of the football club.
31During that year his team won the grand finale. After the game, he went to your house which is in Endeavour Hills and again you gave alcohol and supplied marijuana. You also took him and other friends who are not the subject of charges, to surfing. He went on a couple of surfing trips with you to Phillip Island and Torquay. You would go in a cream coloured van as I understand it and would sleep in the van and stay overnight.
32In 1994 to 1995, he was aged between 14 and 16 and you were 30 to 32. On an occasion, you slept in the back of the van and Victim 2 was sleeping naked with a sleeping bag over himself. As you were getting ready to go to sleep, you began talking about penises and asked Victim 2 questions about his penis. You then reached over with your hand and touched his penis and then pulled the foreskin of his penis down. That gives rise to Charge 2 of indecent assault.
33Victim 2 said that you appeared to be exhilarated by what you were doing and that he was shocked. He cannot now recall how he reacted.
34Victim 3 is currently aged 38 years old. He also played junior football for Endeavour Hills Football Club in the early to mid-90s. That time he played he was 14, 15 and 16 years of age. You were his coach.
35Again you spent time outside of the football club with him. He would go to your house and on surfing trips. When you assaulted him you were aged between 31 and 32.
36When he was 15 or 16, he went to your house. You and he were alone. At some stage you put a pornographic video on and you and he lay on the bed and watched it. You exposed your penis and began rubbing it. He removed his penis from his pants as well. You then leaned over and put your mouth over his penis and began sucking it. That gives rise to sexual penetration of a child aged 16 or 17. He was shocked and did not know what to do.
37At one stage you stopped and asked him what was going on as his penis was soft. He said something along the lines of, "It's coz you're not a girl". You continued to suck his penis for a period until he said he wanted to go home. You then drove him home.
38When you dropped him off you hugged him and said, "Don't tell anyone because it will ruin me".
39It has been put in submissions and in the psychological material that you did not realise or did not understand that what you were doing was wrong. That comment that you made to him puts a lie to that suggestion.
40Victim 4 is currently aged 28 years of age. From 2003 and 2004, he lived at Phillip Island. He would often go surfing with other friends, including Victim 5 and Victim 6. At that time you were living at Smith's Beach on Phillip Island.
41The group became friends and met you. On occasions you would supply them with alcohol, marijuana and what were believed to be Stilnox tablets but were in any event sleeping tablets as I understand it. There would really be only one purpose in doing that I would have thought.
42You continually talked about sex to Victim 4 and his friends. Victim 4 also recalls that you asked him and his friends to measure their penises with a ruler.
43Sometime in 2004 when Victim 4 was 15 and you were 40, incidents occurred. The first occurred on an occasion in your house when Victim 4 had taken some tablets and consumed alcohol, as a result of which he was feeling, "Quite pretty out of it".
44He was in the office room of your house and was masturbating himself. Victim 6 was apparently present at that time.
45You entered the room, observed what was going on, left the room and soon returned with a hand held battery operated vibrator. You used the vibrator and massager to rub Victim 4’s testicals while he continued to masturbate. That is Charge 4.
46The second incident occurred on a night at your house when both Victim 5 and Victim 6 were present. All were consuming alcohol. Victim 4 took a tablet supplied by you and went to sleep. At some stage you entered the room he was in. You placed your hands inside his pants and began masturbating his penis. He recalls now that he woke up and could feel your hands in his shorts masturbating him.
47He ejaculated and you left the room. That gives rise to Charge 5.
48He confronted you about what you had done. After that, you continued to have contact with him for some time. You took him on a surfing trip to Bali. You bought him a new surfboard and would give him money. On one occasion you had given him $3000 which he used on a surfing trip to Samoa.
49The next victim is Victim 5 who is currently aged 27 years. In about April or May 2014, he moved to Phillip Island to live with his father. As I have indicated, the group became friends.
50He would attend your house and would sometimes stay overnight. At that time, Victim 5 was 13 years of age and you were 40. You would be supplying them with alcohol, UDL cans and straight spirits, marijuana and what were believed to be sleeping tablets.
51Victim 5 recalls a time at the house, when you asked the three of the boys to measure their penises with a ruler, saying it was natural for boys to do stuff like this. You also showed them pornographic videos on various occasions.
52On one occasion when he finished surfing he went to your house to have a shower. While he was in the shower, he noticed the shower curtain being pulled back. He saw it was you using a broom handle to try and observe him naked. That gives rise to Charge 6. You told him you were only mucking around.
53He made his statement to police as, with the Victim 6 that I will come to, in September 2004. As I have already indicated, you were interviewed by police on
11 January 2005 and denied the sexual offending. It is clear that even in your mind, you would understand that it was wrong; the fact that you were apprehended and taken to a police station and interviewed over serious offences must have indicated to you that it was simply not on in a social sense or any sense at all.54Victim 6 is currently 28 years of age. He met you when he was 11.
55He went to your house a number of times between the ages of 11 and 13 in the first half of 2004, again when these boys all met.
56Eventually as I have indicated, they were staying over at your house. At the time Victim 6 was 14 and you were 40. Again, you supplied them with alcohol, cannabis, you would talk about sex and masturbating and you were always touching Victim 6, he says, on the shoulder or try to hug him.
57On one occasion he had three UDL cans and a number of straight bourbons, became intoxicated and vomited down his throat. You put him in the shower and he wanted to keep his underpants on but you insisted that they be taken off and got into the shower with him. That gives rise to Charge 7.
58In approximately mid-September of 2004, you wrote a letter to his parents following the allegations being made by the two boys and you admitted to supplying them with alcohol and sleeping tablets. However you denied the other allegations of any further misconduct.
59Again, you were interviewed by police and I have indicated what happened then.
60In fact when you were interviewed by police, you went further. You denied allegations of sexual offending. You say that any sexual activity that took place was between the boys and that you assumed that they were just experimenting.
61Victim 7 is now aged 23 years. He met you through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in around 2006 or 2007 when he was about 12 or 13. You were then between 42 and 43 years of age. You became friendly with the family and his cousin. He would stay overnight at your house. At that time you were living at Archie's Creek.
62Victim 7 noticed you started becoming touchy towards him, giving him massages. On the first occasion you told him that you could give a full body massage as you used to be a football coach. You would cover his waist with a towel across him and commenced to massage him lying on his stomach. You would massage everywhere on his body; you would rub the front of one leg and rub your hands across his genitals as you then rubbed the other leg.
63You said to him, "Don't you tell your parents about it because they'd think it's weird when it's not really that weird". You massaged him in this way on a total of three occasions which gives rise to the representative charge.
64On one occasion the boys were talking about their penises and it was decided they should measure their penises. Victim 7 was using a ruler or measuring tape to do this. You purported to assist him in conduct the measuring at which time you touched his penis which gives rise to Charge 9 of indecent act with or in the presence of a child.
65He pushed your hand away and said, "No, that's frigging weird". You did not say anything. It was in that point on that Victim 7 eventually stopped going to the house.
66Victim 8 is 21 years of age. He first met you through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Cranbourne around about 2007 when he was 11. You were 43 years of age. From about the age of 12 years, he became closer to you and began staying overnight at your house in Archie's Creek. You were married by that stage.
67From the time that he started staying at your house, you would talk a lot about masturbation and sex. You also regularly gave him full body massages during which he was either naked or had only his underwear on. You would regularly try to hug him and try to get into bed with him which he resisted.
68You regularly exposed your penis to him, sometimes when it was erect. On one occasion at the house when he was about 12 years old you asked him if he was circumcised. He said he did not know what that meant. In response you exposed your own penis to him and demonstrated what it meant to be circumcised.
69This conduct that I am about to describe gives rise to the charge of persistent sexual abuse and I do not propose to break it down. The indictment self-says what the particulars are that are relied upon by the Crown and you are only sentenced for those actual particulars.
70On another occasion when he was about 12 or 13 years of age you took him go-karting at Stoney Creek. During the drive to Stoney Creek you reached over to him, who was sitting in the passenger's seat and put your hands inside his pants and touched his penis. He told you no. You then became angry and said, "We're not going go-karting then". He relented and allowed you to masturbate his penis.
71On an occasion when he was aged 13 or 14, you asked him to measure his penis. He pulled down his pants and you used a ruler to measure his penis.
72When he was 14 or 15 staying at your house in Archie's Creek, you on a couple of occasions, inserted his penis into your mouth and sucked on it. The first time that occurred you started by touching his penis and asked him if he wanted a blowjob. As I said, you then started sucking on his penis.
73On an occasion when he was about 14 or 15 you took him to Sandy Point and slept in the rear of your wagon. As you were about to go to sleep you reached over and began to touch his penis. You then masturbated him. You then inserted his penis into your mouth and sucked on it.
74On numerous occasions, he would be at your house and you would go to the toilet at the same time as him when he was urinating and you would cause your stream of urine to cross over his and refer to it as “sword fights”.
75During the course of this relationship, you took him overseas to the United States on three occasions. On one occasion over there you told him to pull his pants down and used an electric shaver to shave his testicle hair. You continued to have regular contact with him and he stayed over at your house until he was then around about the age of 17 years. That went on for about three years.
76Victim 9 is currently 19 years of age. He met you again, through the Church when he was 14 or 15. He would visit his grandmother in Korumburra and then from there go to the church in Wonthaggi. You were by that stage obviously married.
77He began visiting you and your wife regularly and eventually began staying at your house overnight on weekends. He spent an increasing amount of time there during the period when his parents were divorced and I therefore assume he was quite vulnerable. He would come to regard you as like a dad to him.
78He said you would constantly talk about sex, masturbating and telling sexual jokes. You regularly asked him whether he masturbated. You spoke to him about you and your wife's sexual relationship. You would slap him on the penis as you walked past as though it was, "a silly game". You would tickle him on the penis pretending that conduct was inadvertent.
79You would, when using public toilets together, turn yourself to him, overly exposing your penis. They are all uncharged acts; they simply go to the context of all of this.
80You asked him to measure his penis with a ruler.
81On a couple of occasions when he was in the shower at your house, you walked into the bathroom under the pre-tense of bringing towels in and looked at him as he stood in the shower naked. That is Charge 11, which is the representative charge as I have already indicated.
82The two victims who ultimately brought all this to an end were the tenth and eleventh victims. Victim 10 was born July 2001. The Victim 11 was born January 2003. They are currently 16 and 14 respectively.
83They met through the church. You soon became a good friend of the family and together with your wife spent time with them over dinners, family functions and on camping trips. They often went to stay at your house overnight and around this time we are talking about Victim 10 was aged 12 to 14 and the Victim 11 was aged 11 to 12. You were 50 to 51.
84During the time that they would be with you, you would constantly talk to them about sex, masturbation and genitals. You told them about previous sexual experiences.
85On one occasion you asked them to show you their penis but they refused to do so.
86You developed a "game" with them where you would hit them in the genitals and they would hit you back. You would laugh about it and encourage the behaviour as a joke. Again, I am not going into detail. A lot of these things are uncharged acts and I am well aware of the principles involving that.
87On one occasion, they were staying at your house and Victim 10 was asleep in the lounge room wearing shorts, T-shirt and a jumper. He woke up at 4 o'clock in the morning to feel someone was touching his penis. He saw you next to him on the couch with your hands in his shorts touching his penis as he described. That is Charge 12.
88He pushed you away and you told him later on that you were just mucking around.
89On another occasion when they were staying over at your house, they were sharing a bed in one of the bedrooms. You came into their bedroom and got into bed with them under the covers. Whilst in the bed you took hold of Victim 10's hand and placed it on your penis on the outside of your clothing. That is Charge 13.
90On a further occasion at the house you asked Victim 10 and Victim 11 whether they had a foreskin or not. You stated that you did not have one and pulled your pants down and exposed your penis. That is Charge 14.
91When Victim 10 saw it, your penis, he looked away quickly and you laughed when he did that.
92On one occasion when Victim 10 and Victim 11 were staying at your house in Archie's Creek, they were playing with your pellet guns which shoot small plastic projectiles at high velocity. You told them both to pull their pants down and expose their penises so they could shoot the pellet guns at one another’s exposed penises.
93You pulled your own pants down and exposed your penis. Victim 11 saw your penis and saw that it, "Looked like it was erect". That is Charge 15 of indecent act.
94On another occasion you got into the bed and were talking to them about, "periods and boners and sperm". You then asked if you could give them massages which they agreed to. During that, you were feeling Victim 11 on the penis; that is uncharged.
95On a further occasion when sitting on the couch in the lounge room, you touched him on the penis. That gives rise to Charge 16. Victim 11 said, "Get off me mate". You stood up and walked away.
96Around that time, their mother became concerned about your conduct. She eventually ceased contact with you and your wife and directed you not to contact her children. Despite that you continued to contact them by sending text messages, stating that you, "missed them" and that you, "love them".
97It was the revelations to the police of the apprehension that stopped your offending, in my view nothing else. During all that period of time, you have done nothing in terms of treatment or made any endeavours to get help in respect of what you were doing. It is clear to me, that despite what you said to the psychologist, and I will come to that in a moment, you knew what you were doing was not only wrong in an individual sense, but very, very wrong in a social sense.
98When you were interviewed by police, you made no comment which is of course your right.
99Insofar as the further offending is concerned, that is the attempt to pervert the course of justice, as I understand it, the history of this matter was that the allegations were originally made, you were interviewed and then it was adjourned while other allegations were made because the publicity induced other children or adults to come forward and describe what you had done to them.
100You went to see the Victim 8. You took him into the backyard and asked him to lie for you. You explained that if he was asked about or any knowledge involving you shooting Victim 10 and Victim 11 to the penis or testicles with a pellet gun, Victim 8 should say that to his knowledge, that you had walked in on Victim 10 and Victim 11 shooting each other and that you had not been involved. That makes a mockery of your denials to the psychologist in respect of that offending.
101I have read a number of victim impact statements and I take them all into account. Those victim impact statements eloquently describe the consequences of that offending of this nature causes. The consequences of it are not just to the immediate victim. They affect families. They can affect whole communities. In your situation they have affected a church, I daresay now a football club and a whole raft of people at Phillip Island, around Archie's Creek and Wonthaggi.
102That sort of offending in victims as is described by and large in these victim impact statements, describes the feeling of a loss of childhood, loss of self-confidence, almost invariably anger, the feelings of never being safe, guilt, both from parents and in one situation from one brother who did not say anything and realised it was happening to his other brother, shame as I have described. People can become anti-social, withdrawn, they have difficulties with relationships, intimacy, education is affected. Certainly in one situation here and is quite often the case, they wonder why them, why you did it to them, they question their own sexuality.
103They form a fear that others will disbelieve them. I will refer to that again in a moment. They have a feeling that it is their own fault. In this situation, by reading a couple of these, would appear to have lost their faith over it.
104They only ones I am going to read from are from parents and they indicate in very simple terms just what this does. It is from the mother of the two youngest boys, Victim 10 and Victim 11.
"The guilt I feel as a mother is so heavy as a parent, that we let our kids stay with this monster and it all happened without us even knowing. It is overwhelming and suffocating and a very, very heavy burden to bear. I'd do anything to turn back the clock and save my children from the horror they've been through but I can't and you have to learn to survive one day at a time".
105The other is from the mother of the Victim 7.
"I began to question the integrity of every person including my own husband. I questioned my husband's sermon. I thought he was too selfish to care. He thought I was mentally unwell and we were angry with each other. When my suspicions were confirmed I was relieved because for the past numerous years I had wondered myself if I was the paranoid slanderous malicious person that I had been accused of being. I was unable to sleep because I feared the worst and I lost many friends including family members who did not appreciate my negativity and accusations against you, as they believed you were such a good person. I knew your best friends were in the church and I felt uncomfortable attending. I didn't want to see them or you. I became suspicious of everyone as I watched, even my closest friends support him. I have to accept my closest friends can betray me. I find it hard to understand why they didn't believe me. I did not trust a single soul and still to this day to believe that people are really sincere".
106It is clear from the materials and it is clear from the psychological reports that insofar as a lot of this offending is concerned, you can still sit there and deny it.
107The offending is very serious indeed. As I said or as I say now, you have ruined lives, Mr Scott. A number of years ago now, Justice Vincent in a matter of Toomey had this to say. I will read this in detail because it is why offending such as this must carry condoning punishment.
"The situation in this respect can be seen on many encountered in the courts where there has been the sexual abuse of young persons. Often such victims experiencing unjustified feelings of embarrassment, shame and guilt that have been induced by the behaviour of the perpetrator will continue to remain so for many years. Accordingly and very frequently [as in that case] the commission of the offences will not be exposed until long afterwards. Consider it in this light: It is my opinion apparent that the principle of general deterrence must assume very considerable significance as a sentencing consideration. Further, it is incumbent upon the courts, however long ago the offences were committed, to express the denunciation of the community of such behaviour through the sentences imposed on perpetrators. It must be seen to vindicate the values of the society that they represent, fundamental to which is the protection of its children.
108As Justice of Appeal Hedigan adopted in an earlier statement of Justice Marks in The Queen v Sposito,
"A society which fails to protect its children from sexual abuse by adults, particularly those who are trusted with their care [and I interpolate that is you] is to degenerate".
109He was referring to the offence of incest but the principles are the same in respect, of care, in my view.
110He said further on:
"The offence of incest is particularly erosive of human relationships and casts doubt on the assumption of parents and natural trustees for the welfare of their children".
111That sentence applies to football coaches or anyone in the church, whatever it might be.
"It ought to be unnecessary to recount the morbid features of incest, the most prominent of which includes the exploitation by the stronger will of the adult of the weaker will of the child, the physical and psychological sub-ordination of the child to the perverted indulgences of the adult, the gross breach of trust placed in the offender by the victim and the community and the irreparable fundamental damage done to the victim".
112Those comments are obviously applicable to this matter. General deterrence must play a very large part in your situation. Some specific deterrence will also have to play a part. The sentence must show the denunciation and contempt that the community holds for such offenders and the punishment must be appropriate.
113I am aware of the principles relating to totality and I am aware that where possible, one should endeavour to avoid a crushing sentence.
114I then turn to matters personal to you in determining the length of that sentence. I have before me a report from Ms McKenzie, a psychologist who also gave sworn evidence before me, a report from a counsellor, Mr Senna which I will refer to again in a moment. I have before me the history of you as contained in those reports and these are outlined by your counsel.
115It is clear that you have a very good work record. It is clear that you still have the support of your wife. It is clear that you have now apparently re-established contact with your parents. You apparently have the support of members of the church from which you have now been ex-communicated. How much support the victims and their parents received, I have got no idea.
116A number of references were tendered on your behalf and I take those into account. It is clear that in many ways within the community you were very helpful and generous person. I accept all those matters. I take them into account in your overall character, however the fact remains that for, as I have said, a quarter of a century, you sexually abused children.
117I then go to the psychological material that was tendered and I just feel I should have to make some comments about this.
118I am not going to buy into a debate with psychologists about the efficacy of risk assessment. All I can say this. You are regarded as low to moderate back in 2005, before you offended against another five children. On my understanding of it you would have been low to moderate throughout the whole of the 11 of them. Those circumstances in my view, bearing in mind the way in which it is conducted, it is only based upon where you are charged, denials, all those sorts of things, I think they are ridiculous, in terms of trying to endeavour what your risk of reoffending is.
119However, it does not mean that I disregard it. I do not sentence you as a high risk of offending, I do no such thing. I simply, as was pointed during the course of plea, do not know what risk you are of offending. It will be a matter for the authorities and will be a matter that will be assessed when your minimum term has expired. I simply impose a minimum term and I try to impose a sentence which gives the prospect of your rehabilitation a chance; whether you are genuine or whether you avail yourself of it will be up to you.
120The counsellor's report talks about the counselling that you has occurred. I have read that whole report and I take it into account. That counsellor said, and they started essentially after you had been charged,
"I've also noted that in our earlier sessions Mr Scott did not demonstrate an understanding of his wrong-doings in society. However as his insight developed, he demonstrated remorse in the actions that had occurred. Losing the relationship with [Victim 8], 'one of the young males he was accused of molesting', has been a difficulty for him and one where we spent many hours on as Mr Scott has tried to deal with the extreme remorse he experiences, often discussing ideas of writing him a letter once all the case is settled and apologising to him".
121Well as I said to counsel, the letter that you have written which I have now been shown simply confirms the view that I have taken, of that paragraph itself, putting it in terms of that relationship and there is apparently no empathy or understanding of the other boys that you interfered with.
122He goes on later in that report:
"In summary he has had reinforced the reminder of his actions with him. Mr Scott has done a great deal of growth in self and social perception and understanding which has led him to recognise how society has interpreted what he's done as wrong and how trauma has affected him throughout his life and how it can now affect others, particularly [Victim 8]".
123Insofar as the psychologist Ms McKenzie was concerned, she gave, as I said, sworn evidence and was cross-examined.
124Your family history was one where your parents separated when you were very young and I accept that there were difficulties involved in that. She pointed out that in 2005 you became a member of the church and she pointed out how you had been ex-communicated.
125She went through your work history which I accept is good.
126You have now not been working for some period of time and I understand that you reported to her that from the age of five until approximately 16 you were subjected to frequent acts of sexual abuse.
127You told her, this is all self-reporting obviously, but you told her that involved a neighbouring boy and his friends who lived there. You reported that you were forced to engage in sexual acts at least once a week which they described as practicing for when they got girlfriends.
128The abuse included you to perform fellacio on them, penetrating you anally and masturbating you so roughly that your penis would be red and sore, you said.
129You explained to her that you did not initially understand that was being done to you was wrong. When you were old enough to know, they would threaten to beat you if you did comply. So it is inherent in that that you knew that sort of conduct was not to occur.
130It stopped, you say, when the perpetrators became older and left school. You also describe an incident in the army which you went into when you were around about 17, of you being sexually assaulted by other soldiers, when they found out, you say, you had been sexually abused.
131Whether they be true or not I take them from on face value and they are the base on which the psychologist has given her evidence and it is often the case that abusers such as you were sexually abused as children. I take no issue with that.
132The fact of the matter here is that, as I say, I have no doubt that you knew what you were doing was wrong and you did nothing about it and you continued.
133You describe to her of having had relationships. You explain that after you became a Mormon, you could not have sex outside of marriage. You explained that this woman ended the relationship after a year which you attribute to her feeling rejected by your refusal to have sex. I note that that did not stop you having sex of an oral nature with boys.
134You denied any deviant sexual interests. The report says,
"He stated that he had seen pornography that his friends had shown him, that he had never sought out or owned any form of pornographic material, believing it to be degrading for all involved".
135Well that is just patently untrue. You were showing it to the children way back in the 1990s.
136So a lot of the self-reporting I just simply do not accept. I indicated what I think of the risk assessment but that is not going to be used against you, in this situation where you are going to be getting a very significant gaol term. Clearly, I take into account, as best I can, the prospects of rehabilitation, the fact that you have at least now, whether it be for the purposes of the court case, I will never know, started to get assistance with all of this.
137You, upon your ultimate release, will apparently still have the support of your wife. The prospects of you rehabilitating are really up to you. The risk of you reoffending I realistically asssm unable to say. The tests say low. I find that very hard to believe. At the same time I cannot say that it is high. You are now 53. It is clear that this sort of offending decreases as men get older and it really, as I say, is going to be a matter for authorities at a later time.
138I do not know if there is much else I can say in relation to this. You have pleaded guilty and you must get the benefit of that, no doubt about that. But the circumstances of all this offending, over such a long period of time and the damage you have done to so many people can only be viewed as disgusting in my view.
139You are sentenced as follows. Stand up now please.
140As I indicated I will be doing this in terms of cumulation. I also indicated that there are some matters that were they in isolation I may not have imposed a custodial sentence. I have given a custodial sentence and made it totally concurrent; just so that is clear why I have done that.
141Charge 1, six months;
142Charge 2, six months;
143Charge 3, 18 months;
144Charge 4, 12 months;
145Charge 5, 18 months;
146Charge 6, one month;
147Charge 7, one month;
148Charge 8, six months;
149Charge 9, one month;
150Charge 10, seven years;
151Charge 11, three months;
152Charge 12, six months;
153Charge 13, six months;
154Charge 14, three months;
155Charge 15, 12 months;
156Charge 16, six months; and
157Charge 17, six months.
158The one month sentences imposed on Charges 6, 7 and 9 are to be served concurrently with each other and with the balance of the sentences.
159I direct that one month of the sentence on Charge 1, two months of the sentence on Charge 2, six months of the sentence on Charge 3, four months of the sentence on Charge 4, nine months of the sentence on Charge 5, two months of the sentence on Charge 8, one month of the sentence on Charge 11, two months of the sentence on Charge 12, one month of the sentence on Charge 13, one month of the sentence on Charge 14, three months of the sentence on Charge 15, two months of the sentence on Charge 16 and two months of the sentence on Charge 17 be served cumulatively upon each other and upon the sentence imposed upon Charge 10.
160That gives a total effective sentence of ten years. I direct that you serve a minimum of seven years before becoming eligible for parole and I direct that two days be reckoned as having been served under this sentence.
161Pursuant to s.6AAA of the Sentencing Act, I say that but for your plea of guilty, you have would been sentenced to be imprisoned for a period of 14 years with a minimum term of ten.
162Are there any other orders I have to make?
163MR TRIANDOS: The forfeiture orders have already been made the other day.
164HIS HONOUR: Yes, I made that the other day. Yes, remove the prisoner please.
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