R v Dean

Case [2023] ACTSC 98 4 May 2023

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SUPREME COURT OF THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

Case Title:	R v Dean
Citation:	[2023] ACTSC 98
Hearing Date:	30 January 2023 & 28 April 2023
Decision Date:	4 May 2023
Before:	Berman AJ
Decision:	See [56]
Catchwords:	CRIMINAL LAW – JURISDICTION, PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – Judgment and Punishment – Sentence – Use a carriage service for pornography – Possessing child abuse material using a carriage service – Possessing child exploitation
material
Legislation Cited:	Crimes Act 1900 (ACT), s 65(1) Crimes Act 1914 (Cth), s 20(1)(b) Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth), ss 474.19(1), 474.22A(1), 474.22(1)
Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) v Garside [2016] VSCA 74
Cases Cited:
Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) v Hizhnikov [2008] VSCA 269
R v Burdon; Ex parte Attorney-General (Qld) [2005] QCA 147; 153 A Crim R 104 R v De Leeuw [2015] NSWCCA 183 R v Middleton [2023] ACTSC 50 R v Porte [2015] NSWCCA 174 The Queen v Gajjar [2008] VSCA 268 Western Australia v Collier [2007] WASCA 250 Wyper v The Queen; R v Wyper [2017] ACTCA 59
Parties:	The King (Crown)
Taylor Cameron Dean (Offender)
Representation:	Counsel
C Pascoe (Crown)
E Chen (Offender)
Solicitors
Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (Crown)
Legal Aid ACT (Offender)
File Number:	SCC 287 of 2022
Berman AJ:
Introduction

1.       As he was growing up, the offender in this matter, Taylor Cameron Dean, faced a number of challenges in his life. He is someone who has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. As a child, he found it difficult to relate to other people and was bullied at school. When he was able to make friends, these friendships did not last because he often moved where he lived, both because of his mother's financial difficulties and in order to escape domestic violence.
2.       He suffers from depression and has been medicated for it in the past. He contemplated suicide when he was 13 or 14 years old after breaking up with his first proper girlfriend. He fully intended to kill himself and would have, had it not been for someone calling to check up on him.
3.       He and his mother moved to Canberra in 2015 when he was 17 years old. He was unable to make friends, finding it difficult to break into any social circle after moving here. He found that he had nothing to do all day and every day, no one with whom to share experiences, and so he stayed at home watching TV and accessing pornography on the internet. He became addicted to pornography and, when he was particularly depressed, he could spend four to seven hours a day watching it. Given the amount he was consuming, it is perhaps not surprising that he began to find what he described as
“normal porn” as monotonous. This led him to go down a “rabbit hole” of seeking greater
and greater stimulation.
4.       That is how the offender explains how he came to commit the serious offences for which I must sentence him. He has…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading R v Dean

Details

AGLC: R v Dean [2023] ACTSC 98
Case: [2023] ACTSC 98
Decision Date

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In this case, Taylor Cameron Dean was convicted of four offences involving the possession and transmission of child pornography material. Dean pleaded guilty to the charges, which included transmitting child pornography material to himself, possessing or controlling child abuse material obtained or accessed using a carriage service, using a carriage service to access child abuse material, and possessing child exploitation material. The court heard that Dean had a troubled background and had struggled with depression and social isolation, which led to his addiction to pornography and eventual involvement with child pornography. The court acknowledged Dean's efforts to seek help and rehabilitation, including his engagement in counselling since his arrest.

The primary legal issues before the court were the objective seriousness of the offending, the subjective considerations relevant to the offender's background and circumstances, the potential hardship on the offender's wife if he were imprisoned, and the appropriate sentence and means of serving it. The court found the offences to be of significant objective seriousness due to the nature and content of the material, the number of items possessed, and the harm caused to the child victims. However, the court also considered the subjective factors, such as Dean's troubled background, his genuine remorse, and his demonstrated rehabilitation.

The court sentenced Dean to imprisonment for the Commonwealth possession offence, to be served by means of an Intensive Corrections Order (ICO), and imposed suspended sentences on the remaining three matters. The court took into account the potential hardship on Dean's wife if he were imprisoned and his prospects of rehabilitation. The court made orders for the forfeiture of certain items used in the commission of the offences.

The final orders included a sentence of imprisonment for 6 months for the transmission offence and the use offence, to be served with a recognizance release order, and a sentence of imprisonment for 22 months for the Commonwealth possession offence, to be served by means of an ICO. The sentence for the Territory possession offence was wholly suspended, and a Good Behaviour Order was imposed. The court also ordered the forfeiture of certain items used in the commission of the offences.

Orders