R v Tully (No 3)
[2014] ACTSC 275
•3 October 2014
SUPREME COURT OF THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
Case Title: | R v Tully (No 3) |
Citation: | [2014] ACTSC 275 |
Hearing Dates: | 19 May 2014 – 6 June 2014 |
DecisionDate: | 3 October 2014 |
Before: | Burns J |
Decision: | See [54] – [57], [59] – [73] |
Category: | Sentence |
Catchwords: | CRIMINAL LAW – Sentence – Crimes and Offences Against Children – sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 10 years – act of indecency upon a person under the age of 10 years – act of indecency upon a person under the age of 16 years |
Legislation Cited: | Crimes Act 1900 (ACT) s 287 Crimes (Sentencing) Act 2005 (ACT) ss 7, 33, 133C, 133G |
Cases Cited: | Doyle v R; R v Doyle [2014] NSWCCA 4 R v Gavel [2014] NSWCCA 56 |
Parties: | Regina (Crown) Cameron Flynn Tully (Offender) |
Representation: | Counsel Mr T Hickey (Crown) Mr R Livingston (Offender) |
| Solicitors ACT Department of Public Prosecutions (Crown) Ben Aulich and Associates (Offender) | |
File Number(s): | SCC 192 of 2012 |
Burns J:
Background
Cameron Tully, on 19 May this year you were arraigned on an indictment dated 20 December 2012 alleging 7 counts of sexual intercourse with a young person and 14 counts of committing an act of indecency on a young person. For convenience throughout these sentencing remarks, I will refer to each of the charges by their count number on the indictment.
Your trial commenced on 19 May this year and continued until 6 June when the jury returned verdicts of guilty to counts 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22 and 23. The jury returned a verdict of not guilty to count 8. Earlier in the trial, I entered a verdict of acquittal on Count 10 pursuant to s 287 of the Crimes Act 1900 (ACT). Counts 4 and 6 were alternatives to count 3 and 5 respectively, and as the jury returned verdicts of guilty on counts 3 and 5, no verdicts were returned on counts 4 and 6. The jury could not reach a verdict with respect to Count 20, and they were discharged without reaching any verdict on that count.
The offences
I will refer to each of the charges found proved by the jury and set out the facts in each case. I note that most of these offences occurred at your family’s rural property, Hillview, which borders on the Canberra suburb of Cook. You are the eldest of six children and between 1991 and 2002 your mother ran a number of support groups and church meetings from Hillview. A number of families and members of your extended family attended these meetings. You and other members of your family assisted in supervising the younger children while they played on the property while their parents attended the meetings. I am satisfied that you were trusted by the parents of these children to care for and supervise their children at these times. I am also satisfied that you exercised considerable authority with respect to the children on the property and that they were expected to obey you.
You were born on 23 April 1974, meaning that you turned 18 on 23 April 1992. Any offence which occurred before that date occurred whilst you were a juvenile, a matter which has implications for sentencing.
It is of some assistance in determining which of these offences occurred when you were a juvenile or after you had turned 18 that the evidence establishes that your 18th birthday took place while you were still living in what was referred to as the ‘old main house’ on the property. A short time later, you and your family moved into a new rammed earth house that had been built on the property. For convenience, I will refer to this new rammed earth house as the ‘main house’. I am satisfied that any offences that occurred while you were living in the main house occurred after you turned 18.
I will now turn to the individual charges.
Count 1
This is a charge that you engaged in sexual intercourse with A, being a person under the age of 10 years, between April 1992 and April 1993. On a particular occasion during that period, your cousin, A, then between seven and eight years old, slept over in the main house with your sister on a fold‑out couch in the library. During the night, she was woken by you walking into that room. At that time you were 18 years old. She pretended to be asleep while you moved the doona aside, took off her underpants and licked her external genitalia. After a short while, you left the room. I take into account that whilst there was sexual intercourse as defined by the Crimes Act 1900 (ACT), there was no penetration of the victim’s body and no contact between the victim and your genitalia. It appears that the offence was opportunistic, but it was certainly a brazen offence committed against a young child.
I accept that at the particular time this offence occurred, A was not being supervised by you so I do not sentence you on the basis that this offence involved an abuse of authority. I am satisfied, however, that you were only able to commit this offence because you were trusted as the victim’s cousin, so that this offence involved a breach of that trust. In passing sentence, I will bear in mind that you were still a very young man at the time of that offence.
Count 2
This is an offence of committing an act of indecency upon A, being a person under the age of 10 years. On another date between April 1992 and December 1994, A, then aged between seven and nine years old, was again at Hillview. She was seated on a fold‑out couch with your sister in the main house. You sat on the couch between the two girls and put a blanket over your lap. At that time, you were between 18 and 20 years old. You pulled your penis out of your pants under the blanket and placed A’s hand on your erect penis and moved it up and down. She removed her hand from your penis but you put it back on again. In my opinion, this offence involves both a breach of trust and abuse of your position of authority over the victim. It involved direct skin‑to‑skin contact between the victim and your penis, and you persisted in that conduct even after your victim tried to remove her hand. I bear in mind the fact that you were still a very young man at the time of this offence.
Counts 3 and 5
Count 3 is a charge that you engaged in sexual intercourse with A, being a person under the age of 10 years. Count 5 is also a charge that you engaged in sexual intercourse with A, being a person under the age of 10 years. On another date between April 1992 and January 1995, A was again at the property, playing. At some point, she walked through the main house looking for your sister. You took her into the bathroom and closed the door. You put some towels on the floor and laid her on them and took off her underpants. You then knelt down and licked her external genitalia. This is the basis of Count 3. After a short time, you pulled down your pants and laid on top of her and partially inserted your penis into her vagina. This caused her pain and she said, “Ow”. At about that time, someone called out A’s name so you stopped, put your hand over her mouth and told her to be quiet. This is the basis of Count 5.
Each of these offences involved a breach of trust and abuse of your position of authority over the victim. Count 5, however, is much more serious as it involved unprotected penile vaginal intercourse with a child. I accept that penetration was partial and momentary and that ejaculation did not occur. However, it was still a very serious example of this type of offending. I again bear in mind the fact that you were a very young man at the time of these offences.
Count 7
Count 7 is a charge that you committed an act of indecency upon B, being a person under the age of 10 years. Between January 1998 and June 2000, B, then aged between seven and nine years, went with her parents to church group meetings at Hillview. On one occasion, she was playing with other children near a shed and you gave her a piggy back ride during which you reached behind your back, slipped your thumb through her underwear and placed your thumb on her genitalia for a short period of time. At that time, you were aged somewhere between 23 and 27.
This offence involved a breach of trust and abuse of you position of authority over the victim. I take into account that this conduct, whilst it involves skin‑to‑skin contact with the genital area of the victim, was apparently quite brief.
Counts 9, 11 and 12
Count 9 is a charge that you committed an act of indecency upon C, being a person under the age of 10 years. Between May and June 1998, C, then nine years old, went with her parents to church group meetings at Hillview. At this time, you were 24 years old. She was watching television with other children in the library in the main house. You sat next to her on the same chair. You picked her up and sat her on your lap and put a blanket over both of your laps. You then put your hand between her legs and fondled her genitalia, moving your fingers back and forth for a while over her underpants for about 10 or 15 minutes. This is the basis of Count 9. This offence involved a breach of trust and abuse of your position of authority over the victim. I accept that there was no skin‑to‑skin contact between your hand and the victim’s genitalia with the contact being over the top of her underwear. However, the conduct continued for a significant period of time, some 10 to 15 minutes, so it cannot be described as momentary. You were a mature adult at the time of this offence.
Count 11 is a further charge of committing an act of indecency upon C, being a person under the age of 10 years. A short time after the events of Count 9, you stood up and went to the doorway of your bedroom and told C to follow you. She followed you into the bedroom and you closed the door and sat on the edge of the bed. You called her over to the bed and unzipped your jeans and exposed your penis. You told her to touch your penis which she did briefly but then pulled away. You took hold of her hand and made her touch your penis again. That is the basis of Count 11. This offence involved a breach of trust and abuse of your position of authority over the victim. It involved skin‑to‑skin contact between your victim and your penis. You persisted in that conduct, even after the victim tried to pull her hand away. Count 12 is also a charge of committing an act of indecency upon C, being a person under the age of 10 years. Immediately after the events of Count 11, you took down C’s underpants and made her get onto the bed. You then lay on top of her and pressed your penis against her genitals and gyrated against her for five to ten minutes. C felt pain during this incident. At about this time, someone called out C’s name so you stopped and made her leave the room through the bedroom window. Those events are the basis of Count 12. This offence also involved a breach of trust and abuse of your position of authority over the victim. It involved unprotected genital to genital contact by a mature adult man and a nine year old child for a significant period.
Count 13
Count 13 is a charge of engaging in sexual intercourse with C, then a person under the age of 10 years. On yet another date between May and June 1998, C was again at Hillview to celebrate the Queen’s Birthday weekend. There was a bonfire in a paddock near the shearing shed. At some point C was at the main house when her mother asked her to go and get her brother who was at the bonfire. You accompanied her to the bonfire and gave her a piggy back ride. You took her to the shearing shed where you put her on the ground and pulled down her underpants and licked her genitalia. After a short time, you stopped and the two of you then returned to the bonfire. This offence also involved a breach of trust and abuse of your position of authority over the victim. I take into account there was no penetration of the victim’s body and that your conduct occurred over what was apparently only a short period of time.
Count 14
Count 14 is a charge of committing an act of indecency against D, being a person under the age of 16 years. Between December 1997 and December 1999, D, then aged between 10 and 11, was playing with other children in the library area of the main house. You invited her into a spare bedroom to see a kitten. At this time, you were aged between 23 and 25. She followed you into the bedroom and you shut the door and stood close to her. The lights were off in the bedroom and you put your hand underneath her dress and touched the area of her vagina over the top of her underpants before rubbing her back. After a short time, she made an excuse to leave the room. This offence also involved a breach of trust and abuse of your position of authority over the victim. There was skin‑to‑skin contact with the victim, but not in the genital area. Contact in the genital area occurred on the outside of the victim’s clothing.
Counts 15 and 16
Count 15 is a charge of committing an act of indecency upon E, being a person under the age of 10 years. Between October 1999 and October 2001, E, your cousin, was lying on the laundry floor on the main house with you. She was then six years old. You made her lick your fingers, you pulled down her dress and touched her nipples. At this time, you were 25 or 26. That is the basis of Count 15. That offence also involved a breach of trust and abuse of your position of authority over the victim. I note also that the victim was particularly young. Count 16 is also a charge of committing an act of indecency upon E, being a person under the age of 10 years. At the same time as the events in Count 15, you exposed your penis, making E touch it. This is the basis of Count 16. This offence also involved a breach of trust and abuse of your position of authority over the victim. It involved skin‑to‑skin contact between an extremely young victim and your penis.
Count 17
Count 17 is a charge that you engaged in sexual intercourse with E, being a person under the age of 10 years. On a date between October 1999 and October 2000, E was in the shearing shed with you. She was lying on her back on the shearing shed floor. You pulled up her dress and lay on top of her and inserted your penis into her vagina. She felt pain. Afterwards, you got a handful of wool from nearby and wiped her vagina which was bleeding. You told your sister who was nearby to go and get some ‘undies’ for your victim. A short time later, you gave E another pair of underpants which she put on. Later, she went to the toilet and it stung when she urinated. This offence involved a breach of trust and abuse of your position of authority over the victim. You were a mature adult when this offence occurred. It involved unprotected penile vaginal intercourse with a six year old child, albeit that it appears penetration was momentary, was not complete and that you did not ejaculate.
Count 18
Count 18 is a charge that between 2 February 2000 and 2 December 2003, you committed an act of indecency upon F, being a person under the age of 16 years. In 1998, F’s parents joined the church group run by your mother. Between the dates in question, F was at her home at Ngunnawal with other people including yourself for a movie night. At that time, F was aged between 12 and 13 and you were aged between 26 and 28. At some point, you went to the bathroom and gestured for F to follow you which she did. In the bathroom you lifted her shirt and fondled and kissed her breasts for about three minutes. At some point, you heard people walking down the hallway and you told her to be quiet. You then left the bathroom and told her to wait and to follow you a short time later.
Count 19
Count 19 is a charge that between 25 May 1991 and 24 May 1992, you engaged in sexual intercourse with G, then being a person under the age of 10 years. In 1990, G’s parents joined the church group run by your mother. Between May 1991 and May 1992, G, then aged three or four years old, was at her home in Downer with a number of other people, including yourself. At that time, you were 17 or 18 years old. There were a number of other children present and the children were playing a game of hide and seek. At some point, it was G’s turn to find everyone. You took her into the living room to help her count while the other children hid. You lay her on the floor, pulled down her shorts and tickled her before inserting two fingers into her vagina. This lasted a few minutes before you both went back outside to finish the game.
The extreme youth of the victim with respect to this charge is a serious aggravating factor for this offence. I take into account it was an offence that was committed whilst you were a juvenile. Whilst the evidence was equivocal as to whether you were 17 or 18 at the time, I proceed on the basis which is most favourable to you, being that you were a juvenile at the time that this offence occurred.
Counts 21, 22 and 23
Counts 21, 22 and 23 are charges that between 31 August 1991 and 1 March 1992, you committed acts of indecency upon H, being a person under the age of 10 years. Between August 1991 and March 1992, H was at the property watching a movie while her mother attended a women’s group meeting. At that time, she was nine years old. You were then aged 17. At some point, she walked past your bedroom in the old main house and saw you playing a guitar. You led her out of the house to a nearby shed and lay her on a mattress. You lay next to her and told her to touch your penis, which she did over your jeans. That’s the basis of Count 21.
You then placed your hand inside her underpants and rubbed her genitalia for about two minutes. That is the basis of Count 22.
You then removed H’s underpants, put her on all fours and got behind her and rubbed your penis against her genitalia. This lasted for approximately one minute. That is the basis of Count 23. You desisted when somebody ran past the shed at which time you pulled up her underpants and told her to be quiet. A short time later, you took her back to the old main house.
Victim impact statements
Victim impact statements were provided by a number of the victims and their families. They speak eloquently of the long‑term negative effects that your conduct has had upon your victims and their families. A spoke of the fact that she now finds it difficult to trust people, particularly around her son. You were her cousin, a person she should have been able to look to for protection.
C spoke of ongoing psychological problems including nightmares, flashbacks and panic attacks. She has difficulties sleeping and feels angry about what happened to her. She suffers from anxiety and finds it difficult to move on with her life. Her mother spoke of the grief that you have caused her and her family and the ongoing effects on all of them.
D spoke of the traumatic and long‑lasting effects of your actions, particularly the stress and anxiety that she has felt since she grew old enough to understand what you did.
E spoke of difficulty knowing who to trust and feeling guilty, sad and angry. Your crimes have affected her relationships, including those of her family. She finds it hard to trust men, even men that she loves and who do not hurt her.
G spoke of feeling damaged, broken and used. She was not able to tell anyone of what happened for many years. She found herself unable to trust people and felt sad and depressed for most of her pre‑teen and teen years. She clearly blamed herself for what had happened. She attempted suicide four times to try to stop the pain.
H spoke of your taking her innocence and teaching her to fear men. She underwent many years of counselling and therapy to deal with the traumatic effects of your crime.
F spoke of feeling that she could not tell anyone about what had happened. She felt as though she was equally responsible for what had happened to her. She spoke of suffering from depression and anger as well as feeling dirty, used, tainted and unworthy. She tried to block out the memories of what had occurred but was unsuccessful in that regard. She spoke of the effects these events have had upon her family and her relationships. Her words, in that regard, were echoed by those of her husband. Her father also spoke of his feelings of horror and anger when he discovered what you had done. He spoke of the sense of betrayal by your actions. He now has difficulty trusting males around his children and has suffered physically and mentally. F’s mother also spoke of the significant impacts your crimes have had upon their family. It is very clear that your crimes have done great and lasting harm to your victims.
Evidence tendered at the sentence hearing
Pre-Sentence Report
A Pre-Sentence Report (PSR) was prepared for the sentence hearing. I note that you are currently 40 years old and you have no previous criminal history. You described a stable and privileged childhood as the eldest of six children raised on your family’s rural leasehold in North Canberra. You stated you have ongoing, close and supportive relationships with your parents, siblings and extended family. You have been married for approximately 12 years. You have 5 children aged between 10 and 5 years old. You characterized your family as a close and loving unit, with your wife as your major emotional support. Your wife confirmed the close nature of your personal relationship and described you as an engaged and active father. She expressed significant concern for the impact upon your children of any significant period of imprisonment. She reported heavy reliance on support from family and friends to assist with child care in your absence. One of her twins, now aged seven, suffers from autism, making him very dependent on routine and a strong sense of security.
I note that you were educated in the Australian Capital Territory, including a period of home schooling. You subsequently obtained tertiary qualifications in counselling and project and program management. You commenced employment in the 1990s in the building industry, subsequently moving into project management in 2000. You worked as a subcontractor for multiple federal government departments and security and intelligence areas, requiring a top‑level security clearance which was compromised by the current charges. You then sought alternative employment interstate until your trial.
Your family is currently in financial difficulties due to the costs associated with defending these charges. There is no suggestion of any alcohol or drug abuse in your life, or associated with these offences. You do not have any history of mental illness. In August this year, you were assessed by a clinical psychologist, Dr Boer, to whose report I will refer in a moment. You told the author of the PSR that you were subject to an attack using hot liquid in the Alexander Maconochie Centre shortly after you were remanded in custody.
You continued to protest your innocence of the present charges to the author of the PSR. Nevertheless, you claimed to be willing to undertake offence specific treatment if that is identified as appropriate. You said you believed that your victims may have been motivated by a desire to besmirch your own and your family’s good reputations. The author of the PSR assessed you as being at low risk of general reoffending but at moderate risk of sexual reoffending. You were assessed as being unsuitable for community service or periodic detention, although neither is a realistic sentencing option bearing in mind the gravity of these crimes.
Psychological report
On 28 August this year, you were assessed by Dr Douglas Boer, a registered clinical psychologist whilst you were in the Alexander Maconochie Centre. He noted that you adamantly denied committing the offences of which you have been convicted. Dr Boer expressed the opinion that your treatment needs are limited to your sexual offending behaviour. He considered that your denial of your sexual offending behaviour does not mitigate your need to participate in offence‑specific treatment. He thought that it may be more appropriate that you be treated in a program designed for sex offenders who deny or extremely minimise responsibility for their crimes. He also noted that your level of motivation to undertake treatment is low and seemingly based on a desire to be compliant with court orders, although he accepted that this may vary in the future.
Dr Boer considered that you may be eligible for a community based order given your lack of criminal history and pro‑social lifestyle, however if such an order was made, he recommended that you not have contact with persons under the age of 16. In summary, he estimated you to have an overall moderate risk of sexual reoffending. He was of the opinion that you require a custodial sentence of sufficient length to allow you to complete a sex offender program and hopefully sufficient time on parole to allow the opportunity to undertake community based programs.
Letters from offender’s family
At the sentence hearing, a letter from your wife was tendered. She noted that for the last three years you have been on bail which has restricted your ability to live with her and your children. She referred to you moving interstate to find employment after being charged with these offences. She also was required to return to work. She speaks of your close relationship with your children and the hardships your incarceration will cause them.
A letter from your father was also tendered during the sentence hearing in which he speaks of you providing much needed assistance around the property, particularly during the summer months when bush fires present a threat. Your father is now 68 and his mobility is deteriorating. He speaks of depending upon you to undertake much of the physically demanding work around the property.
Consideration
At all relevant times, the maximum penalty for the offence of sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 10 was 17 years’ imprisonment. The maximum penalty for committing an act of indecency with a person less than 10 years of age was 12 years’ imprisonment. The maximum penalty for committing an offence of indecency with a person less than 16 years of age was 10 years’ imprisonment. The age of a child victim is a significant factor in determining the seriousness of a particular child sex offence.
In arriving at appropriate sentences for these offences, I take into account the purposes of sentencing set out in s 7 of the Crimes (Sentencing) Act 2005 (ACT) which, for convenience, I will simply refer to as the Sentencing Act. This section provides that a court may impose a sentence on an offender for one or more of the following purposes:
(a) to ensure that the offender is adequately punished for the offence in a way that is just and appropriate;
(b) to prevent crime by deterring the offender and other people from committing the same or similar offences;
(c)to protect the community from the offender;
(d)to promote the rehabilitation of the offender;
(e)to make the offender accountable for his or her actions;
(f)to denounce the conduct of the offender;
(g)to recognise the harm done to the victim of a crime and the community.
Section 7 (2) provides that none of those purposes must be given any greater weight than the others when sentencing an adult offender. In deciding how an offender is to be sentenced for an offence, the Court must take into account those matters which are relevant and known to the Court and which are referred to in s 33 (1) of the Sentencing Act. These include:
(a)the nature and circumstances of the offence;
(b)the personal circumstances of any victim of the offence as known to the offender when the offence was committed;
(c)any injury, loss or damage resulting from the offence;
(d)the effect of the offence on the victims of the offence, the victims’ families and anyone else who may make a victim impact statement;
(e)the degree of responsibility of the offender for the commission of the offence;
(f)a plea of guilty by the offender;
(g)any assistance by the defence and the administration of justice;
(h)the cultural background, character, antecedence, age and physical or mental condition of the offender;
(i)the financial circumstances of the offender;
(j)the probable effect that any sentence under consideration will have on any of the offender’s family or dependents;
(k)whether the offender was in a position of trust or authority when the offence was committed;
(l)whether the offender has demonstrated remorse; and
(m)current sentencing practice.
With respect to counts 19, 21, 22 and 23, you are to be sentenced as a young offender. In addition to those matters in the Sentencing Act to which I have just referred, when sentencing you as a young offender, I must also take into account the provisions of chapter 8A of the Sentencing Act. Section 133C provides that despite the provisions of s 7 (2), in sentencing a young offender, I must consider the purpose of promoting the rehabilitation of the young offender, and I may give more weight to that purpose than any of the other purposes stated in s 7 (1). In addition, I must also consider your culpability for any offence having regard to your maturity, your state of development and your past and present family circumstances.
In deciding how an offender should be sentenced, I must not increase the severity of any sentence because of the fact that the offender chose to plead not guilty. You chose to maintain pleas of not guilty with respect to all of these charges as you are entitled to do. I must not increase the penalty that would otherwise be appropriate because of this choice. However, your decision to maintain pleas of not guilty has deprived you of the leniency that would have been shown to you had you entered pleas of guilty, thus saving the community the cost of a trial and relieving your victims of the need to give evidence about these traumatic events. An early plea of guilty with respect to these offences could have been expected to result in a reduction of the sentences to be imposed by 25 per cent. You have not demonstrated any remorse for your crimes, meaning that you are not entitled to any leniency for remorse. The circumstances of these offences reveal serious criminal offending. Whilst you have no previous criminal history, that is of less significance in sentencing you for these offences because you used your apparent good character to gain access to your victims.
It is also clear that this was a pattern of behaviour that continued over approximately 10 years and was not a single isolated event. Your offences were brazen, revealing an arrogant belief that your victims would not report your crimes or that, if they did, they would not be believed. Sadly, this is precisely what happened to some of your victims. I am satisfied that you chose your victims because their age and the imbalance of power between you were such that you thought they were not likely to complain and, in any event, would not be believed. You chose your victims because they were young and vulnerable.
The objective seriousness of these offences calls for the imposition of sentences designed to deter others from abusing children this way. Recently, in R v Gommeson [2014] NSWCCA 159 at [97] referred with approval to the comments of the Court in the earlier case of R v Gavel [2014] NSWCCA 56 at [110]:
This Court has observed that child sex offences have profound and deleterious effects upon victims for many years, if not the whole of their lives. Sexual abuse of children will inevitably give rise to psychological damage. The absolute prohibition on sexual activity with a child is intended to protect children from the physical and psychological harm taken to be caused by premature sexual activity.
[citations omitted]
This Court must impose sentences, particularly with respect to the adult offences, which are designed to make it clear to those who would commit sexual offences against children that these offences will be met with stern punishment. In this way, the Court seeks to protect the community and, in particular, children who are some of its most vulnerable members. The fact that you have apparently not committed any further offences over the last 12 years reduces the need for individual deterrence, but that is not to say that it is irrelevant. Dr Boer has assessed you as at moderate risk of sexual reoffending, so individual deterrence is still a relevant sentencing consideration. The offence free period since 2002 does suggest that there are reasonable prospects for your rehabilitation, but your refusal to accept responsibility for your crimes leads me to conclude that I cannot be satisfied that you will not reoffend. Participation in appropriate programs in custody and upon your release will, I am satisfied, assist in your rehabilitation and reduce the prospects of you reoffending.
These are historic offences and you’re entitled to be sentenced in accordance with the sentencing practices at the time that the offences occurred. In Doyle v R; R v Doyle [2014] NSWCCA 4, another recent decision handed down by New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal, evidence was placed before the Court establishing the sentencing practices or standards in place in that state for offences involving indecent assault upon children committed in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Based upon that evidence, the Court of Criminal Appeal reduced the sentences imposed on the appellant at first instance on the basis that the severity of sentences of that type of offending had increased since the appellant has committed his offences.
In the present case, no evidence was placed before me as to the sentencing practices or standards existing in this Territory for this type of offending between 1992 and 2002. In the absence of such evidence, I am not prepared to conclude that the sentencing practices or standards of this Court with respect to child sexual offending was significantly more lenient between 1992 and 2002 than it is today.
I accept that any sentences of imprisonment imposed upon you will have a detrimental effect upon your family. This is an inevitable consequence of serious criminal offending requiring the imposition of a term of imprisonment. I take into account, however, that you have a young child with special needs and that you also have an aging father who looks to you for assistance. I also take into account the fact that you have been on onerous bail conditions whilst awaiting trial. I am satisfied, however, that nothing less than immediate terms of imprisonment will be adequate to appropriately punish you for these offences to deter others from similar offending, to denounce your conduct and to recognise the harm done to your victims and their families.
A significant degree of concurrency is justified where offences occurred at the same time against the same victim or as part of the same chain of events. There must, however, be a degree of accumulation of sentences in order to meet the objectives of sentencing, subject, of course, to the requirements of totality. Section 133G of the Sentencing Act obliges me when sentencing you to terms of imprisonment for offences committed as a young offender to consider making a combination sentence consisting of a term of imprisonment and a good behaviour order with a supervision condition. Such a course is inappropriate in this case due to a large number of adult charges on which sentences of imprisonment will be imposed. In any event, a period of supervision on parole is a probable outcome of the sentences I will impose which will have the same effect as a good behaviour order with a supervision condition.
Sentences
It is impossible to determine precisely in what chronological order these offences occurred so I will first deal with the offences committed as a young offender and then with the offences committed as an adult in the order in which they are set out in the indictment.
Count 19
I record a conviction and you are sentenced to two years eight months’ imprisonment commencing on 6 June 2014, and expiring on 5 February 2017.
Count 21
I record a conviction and you are sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment commencing 6 August 2016 an expiring 5 May 2017.
Count 22
I record a conviction and you are sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment commencing 6 September 2016 and expiring 5 November 2017.
Count 23
I record a conviction and you are sentenced to two years’ imprisonment commencing 6 July 2016 and expiring 5 July 2018.
I will now deal with the adult offences.
Count 1
You are convicted and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment commencing 6 July 2016 and expiring 5 July 2018.
Count 2
I record a conviction and you are sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment commencing 6 July 2017 and expiring 5 January 2019.
Count 3
I record a conviction and you are sentenced to two years six months’ imprisonment commencing 6 January 2017 and expiring 5 July 2019.
Count 5
I record a conviction and you are sentenced to three years nine months’ imprisonment commencing 6 April 2017 and expiring 5 January 2021.
Count 7
I record a conviction and you are sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment commencing 6 July 2020 and expiring 5 July 2021.
Count 9
I record a conviction and you are sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment commencing 6 November 2020 and expiring 5 January 2022.
Count 11
I record a conviction and you are sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment commencing 6 February 2021 and expiring 5 August 2022.
Count 12
I record a conviction and you are sentenced to three years’ imprisonment commencing 6 May 2021 and expiring 5 May 2024.
Count 13
I record a conviction and you are sentenced to 3 years 10 months’ imprisonment, commencing 6 July 2021 and expiring 5 May 2025.
Count 14
I record a conviction and you are sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment commencing 6 October 2024 and expiring 5 December 2025.
Count 15
I record a conviction and you are sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment commencing 6 June 2025 and expiring 5 March 2026.
Count 16
I record a conviction and you are sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment commencing 6 August 2025 and expiring 5 October 2026.
Count 17
I record a conviction and you are sentenced to four years’ imprisonment commencing 6 October 2024 and expiring 5 October 2028.
Count 18
I record a conviction and you are sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment, commencing 6 October 2027 and expiring 5 December 2028.
The sentences I have imposed mean that you are liable to serve 14 years 6 months’ imprisonment commencing 6 June 2014 and expiring 5 December 2028. I set a non‑parole period of nine years, commencing 6 June 2014 and expiring on 5 June 2023.
| I certify that the preceding seventy-three [73] numbered paragraphs are a true copy of the Reasons for Sentence of his Honour Justice Burns. Associate: Date: 27 October 2014 |
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