R v Mabbott, Glenn

The case of R v Mabbott, Glenn was heard by the Supreme Court of Victoria. The defendant, Glenn Mabbott, was convicted of multiple historic sexual assaults against a seven-year-old victim, involving digital and penile-vaginal penetration as well as indecent acts. Mabbott had previously been sentenced for other child sexual offences and his current charges predated these matters. The court was required to determine an appropriate sentence for these historic offences, taking into account Mabbott's psychosexual profile and history of being a victim of sexual abuse himself.

The legal issues before the court included the nature and seriousness of the offences, the defendant's history of sexual offending, his participation in a rehabilitation program, and his potential risk of reoffending. The court also needed to consider whether Mabbott's claimed progress in rehabilitation was genuine or merely an attempt to minimise his offending and diminish his insight. In assessing the risk of reoffending, the court considered Mabbott's sexual fantasies as an important driver of his sex offences.

In delivering the judgment, the court found that despite Mabbott's participation in a rehabilitation program and claims of significant progress, his minimization of offending and use of program jargon indicated a lack of true insight. The court concluded that the risk of reoffending was high due to Mabbott's entrenched sexual fantasies and patterns of behaviour. As a result, the court sentenced Mabbott to a minimum term of seven years and six months for the historic sexual offences, with a non-parole period of three years. This sentence was to run concurrently with other sentences Mabbott was already serving.