R v HOGAN

The appellant, a Jesuit priest and college rector, pleaded guilty to aggravated possession of child pornography under South Australian law and using a carriage service to access child pornography under Commonwealth law. He had amassed a significant collection of such material over many years, with some of the content falling into the most serious categories. The appellant sought leave to appeal against the sentences imposed, arguing that the sentencing judge erred in refusing to suspend the sentences, imposing manifestly excessive sentences, failing to make the sentences wholly concurrent, imposing identical head sentences for both offences, and not providing the maximum discount for his early guilty plea. The appeal was heard by Kourakis CJ, Nicholson and Parker JJ.

The central legal issues before the Full Court were whether the sentencing judge had erred in exercising their discretion regarding the discount for the early guilty plea for the state offence, and whether the overall sentences imposed for both the state and Commonwealth offences were appropriate, particularly in relation to concurrency and the potential for suspension. The court was required to consider the principles established in *R v Padberg* concerning the sentencing of similar offences.

The court acknowledged that s 10C(2)(b) of the *Criminal Law (Sentencing) Act 1988* (SA) conferred a discretion to discount the sentence for the state offence by up to 30%, and that a 25% discount was not plainly insufficient. However, the court also considered the period of imprisonment already served by the appellant. Applying the principles from *R v Padberg*, which emphasised that custodial sentences are usually required for such offences, the court varied the sentences. The Commonwealth sentence was reduced to one month and three weeks imprisonment, with immediate release ordered. The state sentence was reduced to one year and three months and three weeks imprisonment, to be suspended upon the appellant entering into a recognisance to be of good behaviour for 18 months. Both sentences were ordered to be served concurrently.