Director of Public Prosecutions v Williams
[2016] VCC 269
•17 March 2016
| Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication with pseudonyms |
AT BALLARAT
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION CR-15-01849
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| V |
| DARYL PETER WILLIAMS |
---
| JUDGE: | HER HONOUR JUDGE WILMOTH |
| WHERE HELD: | Ballarat |
| DATE OF HEARING: | 15 March 2016 |
| DATE OF SENTENCE: | 17 March 2016 |
| CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Williams |
| MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2016] VCC 269 |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
Subject:Criminal law - sentence
Catchwords: pleas of guilty to three charges of committing an indecent act with child under 16 and three charges of sexual penetration of child under 16 – two complainants - accused was coach of cricket teams in which boys played – fathers absent from homes of each boy – one boy groomed on visits to his home while mother absent - accused took them and other boys to farm where offending occurred – significant breach of trust - given alcohol and encouraged to play sexual games – early plea – admissions to sexual penetration not complained of by complainant – delay - genuine remorse – several health problems – depressive symptoms enlivening Verdins principle as to experience of imprisonment – no prior offending - specific deterrence somewhat reduced by age, remorse and prospects for rehabilitation – general deterrence of greater significance.
Cases Cited:Verdins v R (2007) VR 269
Sentence: 5 years 8 months with non-parole period of 3 years.
Note: Pseudonyms have been used to protect the identity of the complainants. ---
APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director of Public Prosecutions | Mr P. Bourke | OPP |
| For the Accused | Mr J. Lavery | Mike Wardell |
HER HONOUR:
1Daryl Peter Williams, you have pleaded guilty to three charges of committing an indecent act with a child under 16 and three charges of sexual penetration of a child under 16.
2You committed these offences between 1994 and 1997 when you were a cricket coach. At that time, you had access to accommodation in old shearers quarters on a farm at Amphitheatre where you would go on weekends. When the boys you were coaching turned 14 or 15, you would take some of them to the farm where they played cricket and other games as well as hunting, but also drank alcohol and possibly smoked cannabis, according to the statement of one of the boys. You were always the only adult present.
3You would talk to the boys about masturbation and get them to play masturbation games as well as to perform oral sex on a wooden figure in the shape of a penis. This was part of a system of penalties in card games, which included being sent outside to masturbate.
4Two of these boys were Andrew Peterson[1] and Mark Pratt[2], both of whom played cricket in teams you coached. Andrew was aged 14 and Mark was between 14 and 16 when you offended against them. Neither boy had a father at home and you befriended them. You were aged about 41.
[1] Pseudonym
[2] Pseudonym
5Mark Pratt made a statement in April 2012 and Andrew Peterson in April 2014 although he had initially spoken to the police two years earlier. Mark Pratt recalls that when he played in your cricket team, you encouraged him more than the other boys and you would pick him up from school and drive him to the cricket centre. You would frequently go to his house when his mother was out at work and it was in this context that you invited him to stay at the farm.
6On one occasion at the farm, you massaged his back and then rubbed his penis, reaching under him as he lay on his stomach. He turned over and you continued to touch him until he ejaculated. This is Charge 1.
7On another occasion when Mark was very intoxicated, you sucked on his penis and he told the other boys who were staying there that you were giving him a headjob. When one of the other boys was disbelieving, you confirmed it, and again the boy said he did not believe you, whereupon you confirmed it again.
8A third time, the boy said something similar and Mark pushed your head down onto his penis so you could not reply. This is Charge 2.
9The next day you asked Mark if he remembered trying to give you a headjob, and because he was ashamed and embarrassed, Mark said he did not remember. You asked him if he remembered you giving him one, and Mark had to admit it as he had spoken to the other boy. After this, Mark withdrew from you and stopped talking to you when you were alone and stopped going to the farm.
10Andrew Peterson played both indoor and outdoor cricket in teams you coached, and heard about the farm visits from other boys. He began going there once or twice a month. He said they drank a lot of alcohol and sometimes smoked cannabis. On two separate occasions while in bed at night when everyone else was asleep, he was aware of you kneeling down quietly beside his bed, reaching under the bedclothes and placing your hand on his penis. You then masturbated him, which is Charge 3, and is a representative charge covering two occasions.
11At the same time, you placed his hand on your penis which is Charge 4, and is also a representative charge covering two occasions.
12Andrew Peterson tried to pull his hand away but you kept replacing it on your penis and as he felt there was no other way out, he masturbated you. He did not disclose any penetration by you, but when interviewed by the police, you admitted having performed oral sex on him and that he then performed oral sex on you. That gives rise to Charges 5 and 6 which are each representative charges of between seven and ten occasions.
13Mark Pratt provided a victim impact statement in which he described the betrayal of trust he felt as a result of the abuse by you, and how the memory of the abuse has made relationships difficult and contributed to low self-esteem. He believes that together with hypervigilance and a weak tolerance to stress, that has held him back from advancing in life and in his career. Although he has worked as a financial planning consultant, he is at present unemployed. He believes he still has to resolve the emotional obstacles which prevent him reaching his potential.
14This was very serious offending and warrants a lengthy prison sentence. It was submitted by your counsel that the seriousness is reduced by the fact that the boys were at the older end of the age range, meaning that the offending would have been more serious if they had been younger.
15The breach of trust the offending represents is an important aggravating factor. The circumstances were that you befriended the boys, as I said earlier, and their mothers allowed them to go away with you for weekends, trusting that they would be safe in your care. Instead, you gave them alcohol and possibly cannabis and repeatedly sexually abused them.
16It seems you considered the boys were consenting to what you did although you have acknowledged that you knew it was wrong. This suggests a fundamental lack of insight by a mature adult indicating that your own desire took precedence over any possible scruples.
17General deterrence is a significant sentencing factor partly because it is an indication of the abhorrence with which the community regards such behaviour and because of the expectation that it will be punished severely and may help to deter others.
18As for specific deterrence, there is a number of mitigating factors which will temper the sentence somewhat, beginning with your remorse which I accept as genuine, as well as your health, your age, and the delay which has occurred.
19You are now aged 60, a disability pensioner who has not worked since the occurrence of a degenerative disc condition at quite a young age. After leaving school at 15, you had worked in various unskilled jobs then as a painter with your father who soon became unwell and the work did not continue. Your school days had been unhappy because of bullying following medical treatment to your leg, which caused you to miss months of school and then return with a walking stick.
20You are one of four siblings and you live in the family home with your two sisters, your parents having died some years ago. You have the support of your sisters, together with that of your brother who lives in his own home. You entered into a loan arrangement some time ago for renovations to the house, and your incarceration will deprive your siblings of your contribution to the loan repayments.
21You pleaded guilty at an early stage and I accept that as an indication of remorse, together with the expression of remorse to the police and the fact that you made admissions to the more serious charges of penetration, of which the complainant had made no mention. Importantly, the plea has saved the complainants from having to give evidence and that carries weight as to a discount on your sentence for pleading guilty. I take those matters into account.
22You have no prior convictions and apart from these matters, you have achieved the age of 60 without having offended. The offending occurred some 20 years ago and the delay in prosecution - while not at all unusual and no one's fault - is also a matter to be taken into account.
23Would you stand now please, Mr Williams.
24I sentence you as follows. For each of Charges 1, 3 and 4, 18 months' imprisonment. For each of Charges 2, 5 and 6, four years' imprisonment.
25The sentence for Charge 5 will be the base sentence for purposes of cumulation. I order that six months of the sentence for Charge 6, eight months of the sentence for Charge 2 and two months of each of the sentences for Charges 1, 3 and 4 be served in cumulation upon the base sentence. This results in a total effective sentence of five years and eight months.
26I fix a period of three years which you must serve before being eligible for parole.
27If you had pleaded not guilty to these charges, I would have sentenced you to seven years' imprisonment with a non-parole period of five years.
28You are sentenced as a serious sexual offender in respect of Charge 3 and the subsequent charges, but as I understand it the prosecution does not seek a sentence that is disproportionate to the gravity of the offences.
29It is mandatory that you be placed on the sex offenders register and you must provide your details to the police each year for the rest of your life. You will be given a form to sign in that regard in a moment.
30You have been in detention now for two days and that time will be reckoned as already served, and I shall cause that to be noted on the court record.
31The prosecution seeks a disposal order and an order for a forensic sample of saliva to be obtained, and through your counsel you have consented to both those applications and I make the orders. I must advise you that the police have the power to use reasonable force to obtain the sample but I trust that will not be necessary.
32Are there any other matters, Mr Bourke?
33MR BOURKE: No, Your Honour. I'm just checking the mathematics.
34HER HONOUR: Certainly. Mr Lavery, anything further?
35MR LAVERY: No. No, Your Honour, no.
36HER HONOUR: Mr Bourke? Are you content with those?
37MR BOURKE: Your maths is right, Your Honour, yes. Thank you.
38HER HONOUR: All right, thank you. Mr Williams may be taken now, thank you officers.
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