R v Donaldson

[2023] NSWDC 337

District Court

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation:

R v Donaldson [2023] NSWDC 337

Hearing dates:

10/3/23

Date of orders:

10/3/23

Decision date:

10 March 2023

Jurisdiction:

Criminal

Before:

Bourke SC DCJ

Decision:

I allow a 25 percent discount for the plea of guilty.

Convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment for a period of 12 months. I order, however, that he be released forthwith, upon a Recognisance Release Order, after entering a self-recognisance in the amount of $500, subject to the following conditions:

1. Be of good behaviour for 3 years.

2. Be subject to the supervision of Community Corrections.

3. Obey the reasonable directions of Community Corrections.

4. Not travel interstate or overseas without the written permission of Community Corrections.

5. Undertake such treatment or other rehabilitation or counselling as is reasonably directed by Community Corrections.

I direct that offender report to the Penrith office of Community Corrections within 7 days.

I direct that a copy of the report of Istvan Schreiner dated 30/10/22 be sent to Community Corrections.

Catchwords:

Crime – Sentence – Commonwealth offences – Transmit child abuse material using a carriage service

Legislation Cited:

Commonwealth Criminal Code

Crimes Act 1914

Cases Cited:

R v Porte (2015) NSWCCA 174

Minehan v R (2010) NSWCCA 140

R v Hutchinson (2019) NSWCCA 152

R (Commonwealth) v Nafarette (2022) NSWDC 225

Category:

Sentence

Parties:

Commonwealth DPP – Crown
Bruce Ian Donaldson - Offender

Representation:

Ms M Grawich for Crown
Mr B Walker for Offender

File Number(s):

22/77285

sentence

1. The offender, Mr Bruce Donaldson, has pleaded guilty to an offence under s 474.22(1) of the Commonwealth Criminal Code, being an offence that on 24 February 2022, he transmitted material using a carriage service, the material being child abuse material. The maximum penalty for that offence is 15 years' imprisonment, which is of course a guideline or yardstick to which I have had regard in the sentencing exercise.

2. He pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, and while there is no statutory defined discount for the value of a plea of a guilty in a Commonwealth matter, I intend to allow a discount of 25% by reason of the utilitarian value of that plea.

FACTS

3. The facts of the offence are agreed and in essence are as follows.

4. On 24 February 2022, investigators within the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad of NSW Police commenced a covert online investigation using an assumed online identity of a 14-year-old female child. I will refer to the assumed online identity hereafter as the AOI.

5. About 6.30pm on that night the AOI logged into a chat room on a platform called ChatIW and was contacted by the offender who was using an account with the username DA, and which included the details, “53 years, Australia, New South Wales.” A conversation then occurred on that platform. Some of the conversation included abbreviations. However, to make more sense of the conversation I will ignore the abbreviations and refer to what appear to be the actual words…