R v King

In the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory, Ian Harold King has pleaded guilty to committing an act of indecency on a person under the age of 16 years, which occurred in or around September 1998. This offence contravenes what was, at that time, s 92K(2) of the Crimes Act 1900 (ACT), and carries a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment. King is currently serving a lengthy sentence for similar offences. The primary legal issues that the Court was required to decide were the appropriate sentence to be imposed for the current offence, considering the subjective circumstances of the offender and the objective seriousness of the offending, and how this sentence would interact with the sentences already being served by the offender. The Court also had to consider the principle of totality in sentencing, the offender's plea of guilty, and the relevance of previous Court of Appeal sentences.

The Court considered the significant age difference between the offender and the victim, the offender's conduct for his own sexual gratification, the vulnerability of the victim in the offender's home, the relationship of trust between the victim and the offender, and the protracted and serious nature of the offending. The Court also took into account the offender's traumatic upbringing, the attack on the offender in prison, and his completion of a sex offender program. However, the Court gave limited weight to these factors, as there was no evidence to suggest that the offender had changed his attitude towards his offending or felt significant remorse. The Court also considered the principle of totality in sentencing, which requires that the overall sentence reflects the community's abhorrence of crimes of this kind.

The Court imposed a sentence of two years and seven months' imprisonment, reduced from three years and five months for the plea of guilty. The Court also reset the nonparole period on the total of the sentences imposed by the Court and the Court of Appeal to 12 years and 11 months. This means that King will continue to be eligible to apply for parole. The Court took into account the subjective circumstances of the offender and the objective seriousness of the offending, as well as the principle of totality in sentencing, the offender's plea of guilty, and the relevance of previous Court of Appeal sentences.