The Queen v Cooper
[2021] VCC 1515
•6 October 2021
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT MELBOURNE CRIMINAL DIVISION | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
Case No. CR-21-00636
| THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS (CTH) |
| v |
| PHILLIP COOPER |
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JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE HANNEBERY | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 25 August 2021 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 6 October 2021 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | The Queen v Cooper | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2021] VCC 1515 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:CRIMINAL LAW
Catchwords: Use carriage service to solicit child pornography material - engage in sexual activity (other than sexual intercourse) with a child outside Australia - use carriage service to cause child abuse material to be transmitted to self - possess child abuse material obtained or accessed using a carriage service
Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1914 (Cth); Criminal Code Act 1995; Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004 (Vic)
Sentence: Four years and one month's imprisonment, non-parole period of two years and six months.
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the CDPP | Ms K. Breckweg | Solicitor for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Mr J. Dickinson QC Ms A. Harrold | Melasseca Kelly Zayler |
HIS HONOUR:
Introduction
1Phillip John Cooper, you have pleaded guilty to:
(a) Charge 1, use carriage service to solicit child pornography material contrary to s474.19(1) of the Criminal Code (Cth);
(b) Charge 2, engage in sexual activity (other than sexual intercourse) with a child outside Australia, contrary to s272.9(1) of the Criminal Code (Cth);
(c) Charge 3, use carriage service to cause child abuse material to be transmitted to self, contrary to s474.22(1) of the Criminal Code (Cth);
(d) Charge 4, encourage offence against ss 272.8(1) of the Criminal Code (Cth), contrary to s272.19(1) of the Criminal Code (Cth); and
(e) Charge 5, possess child abuse material obtained or accessed using a carriage service contrary to s474.22A(1) of the Criminal Code (Cth).
2The applicable maximum penalties for those offences are as follows:
(a) Charge 1, 15 years’ imprisonment;
(b) Charge 2, 15 years’ imprisonment;
(c) Charge 3, 15 years’ imprisonment;
(d) Charge 4, 20 years’ imprisonment; and
(e) Charge 5, 15 years’ imprisonment.
Summary of Offending
3The prosecution tendered a further amended prosecution opening for plea which was essentially agreed.[1] Your offending is summarised as follows.
[1]Prosecution Exhibit 1.
4At approximately 11.30 pm on 7 November 2019, you arrived at Melbourne International Airport from Manila in the Philippines.
5The Australian Border Force ('ABF') examined your luggage, including electronic devices and located Skype content on your laptop, including sexualised conversations, including requests for the ages of girls and for them to be shown to you naked. Your Samsung Galaxy S8 mobile phone was seized.
6You were placed under arrest, cautioned, and participated in a record of interview with police on 8 November 2019, where you stated:
(a) 'I go to the Philippines every fortnight… I lived in the Philippines for three years'.
(b) You said you met girls in the Philippines through an internet site called 'Tagged', which is a social media/dating site.
(c) When asked if you knew it was illegal to procure a child, you stated 'of course it’s illegal, yeah'.
(d) You stated '[I] don’t have sex with … children under eighteen'.
(e) When asked if you had ever groomed a child, you stated 'you don’t groom children in the Philippines, they groom you… they’ll manipulate you, cheat you, pickpocket you… I’ve had girls say, 'do you want to go back with me? It’s prolific. It’s quite amazing… a girl in the Philippines will do anything for thirty bucks'.
(f) When asked if you used Skype, you stated 'not on a regular basis', however, the last time you used it was 'Saturday, I suppose… Um, someone Skyped me, but I didn’t answer it… I didn’t want to… I knew what it involved'.
(g) When asked what you meant by this, you stated 'There’s a young girl involved. They want me to go and meet her… And I didn’t want to and I wasn’t going to'.
(h) You said, 'Well, there’s a young girl… I don’t know. I’ve known about it for a little while'.
(i) You said, 'I know what mum is called… she’s sort of saying well she's ready, you can come and meet her'.
(j) 'Well… I don’t think it’s a good idea'.
(k) 'Well, they want money and they’ve – they offered the young girl to me… whether it’s to do as I please or to do what she will let me do, it is offered to me'.
(l) '… I’ve never pursued the offer'.
(m) 'I said, 'because she's too young'.
(n) You said that you were aware that she was fourteen.
(o) When asked if you were aware what child exploitation material is, you stated 'Won’t find any on my phone'.
(p) When asked if you had seen any, you responded 'Oh, years ago – remember the internet was uncensored?... mates would send it to each other… you’d send photos of little girls… but the internet’s all closed up. You can’t see anything like that anymore'.
(q) When asked if you had ever seen any child sex shows over Skype, other internet conversations or streaming, you stated 'No'.
7On 8 November 2019, following your arrest, an external hard drive and a Dell laptop were seized from your residential premises.
8On 29 November 2019, a further search warrant was conducted at a storage locker that was provided by your employer in Karratha, Western Australia. A Toshiba Laptop was seized.
9A Skype account was located in your name, with the username ‘Phillc1660’. This account was accessed across multiple devices, and an examination of this resulted in the following conversations and videos being located.
Charge 1: Use a Carriage Service to Solicit Child Pornography Material
10On 26 December 2018, you had a text conversation on the Skype application, with the user with the username [redacted]. I do not intend to repeat the contents of that conversation, but excerpts from the text conversation related to Charge 1, is contained in Prosecution Exhibit 1 and will be annexed to these sentencing remarks.[2]
Charge 2: Engage in sexual activity (other than sexual intercourse) with a child under 16 outside Australia
[2]Prosecution Exhibit 1, Prosecution Opening, is not suitable for publication and is not annexed to the published remarks.
11On 1 March 2019, you had a Skype video conversation with a child referred to as 'Judy',[3] using Skype user profile [redacted]. The female child was of Filipino appearance and was clearly under the age of 16 years of age. The video is approximately 24 minutes in duration. Your image appeared be seen in the top right-hand corner of the screen.
[3]A pseudonym.
12During the video conversation, your instructed 'Judy' to remove her top, remove her bra, remove her panties and “finger herself”.
13The video was recorded and located on the Dell Laptop computer seized from your residence in Barnawartha.
14An excerpt from the video conversation related to Charge 2 is contained in Prosecution Exhibit 1.
15At the conclusion of the Skype call, you made a payment for this interaction, namely 1,400 Philippine Pesos, which at that time was approximately $42.66 AUD in total.
Charge 3: Cause Child Abuse Material to be transmitted to himself
16On 4 October 2019, you had a Skype conversation with the username [redacted], in which you asked for images of the user’s children and images of the children naked to be sent to you.
17The user told you her two daughters were 11 and 12 years of age, and in the context of this conversation, you received two child abuse images.
18An excerpt of the Skype conversation is included in Prosecution Exhibit 1.
Charge 4: Encourage an offence, namely engaging in sexual intercourse outside Australia
19Between 18 September 2019 and 3 November 2019, you engaged in a text conversation over Skype with the same user, with the username [redacted]. You refer to this person as 'Sarina'.[4]
[4]A pseudonym.
20Between 31 October 2019 and 3 November 2019, you engaged in a text conversation over Skype with a different user, with the username [redacted].
21These conversations were located on the Samsung Galaxy S8 mobile phone seized at the airport.
22These conversations related to the female child referred to as 'Judy' and excerpts of those conversations are contained in Prosecution Exhibit 1.
23
Transaction records reveal a transaction made to 'Sarina Dillon'[5] on
26 September 2019 in the amount of 1,400 Philippine Pesos, corresponding with the above charge period.
[5]A pseudonym.
Charge 5: Possess Child Abuse Material
24On 8 November 2019, your mobile phone was seized and found to contain child abuse material.
25On 8 November 2019, at the search warrant conducted at your residence, further electronic devices, namely an external hard-drive and a Dell laptop were located and also found to contain child abuse material.
26On 29 November 2019, at Wickham in Western Australia, a search warrant occurred at a storage facility used be you, provided by your employer, further child abuse material was located on a Toshiba laptop.
27The child abuse material located across the various devices/accounts was analysed and categorised as follows:
(a) 135 category 1 images, including one video;
(b) 7 category 2 images, including two videos;
(c) 7 category 3 images;
(d) 21 Category 4 images;
(e) Three category 5 images.
28A combined total of 173 images and videos containing child abuse material were located.
29The video file located on the Dell computer was the recording of the video subject to Charge 2.
Other offences required to be taken into account
30You have admitted one offence, that on 3 June 2017, in Karratha in Western Australia, you used a carriage service in a way that reasonable persons would regard as being offensive, namely discussing a child under 16 years of age in a sexual manner, contrary to s474.17(1) of the Criminal Code (Cth).
31This offence is to be taken into account in relation Charge 3, pursuant to s16BA of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth).[6]
[6]Prosecution Exhibit 3.
32On 3 June 2017, you had a conversation via Skype with user [redacted], an extract is included in Prosecution Exhibit 1, which I do not intend to repeat now.
Matters which the court must have regard
33When sentencing for Federal offences, the court must impose a sentence that is of a severity appropriate in all the circumstances that are relevant and known to the court. Section 16A(2) of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth), sets out a non-exhaustive list of matters for which the court must have regard when passing sentence.
The Nature and Circumstances of the Offending
34Charge 1, using a carriage service to solicit child pornography material, is a serious offence as reflected by its maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment. Whilst there is no evidence that your solicitation was successful, the offence lies in the nature of the request, not the outcome. The text conversation you had on Skype had you seeking an image, pornographic in nature, of a child you were told was 14 or 15 years old.
35Charge 2, engaging in sexual activity with a child outside Australia, also has a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment. Your conduct represents a very serious example of that offence.
36I do not accept the defence submission that it was ‘falling towards the lower end of the scale’. This is in any event a relative concept. I note that the defence submissions did not refer to any comparable cases from which a relevant ‘scale’ might be discerned. As I have mentioned though of course you are not to be sentenced on the basis of any aggravating features that are not present in this particular case.
37Over the course of a 24 minute video conversation, you directed that a 13-year-old girl remove her top, bra, panties, and then on your direction, open her legs and “finger herself”. You were 45 years older than her. She told you directly that she was hungry and that her mother was unable to afford the food she wanted. You used her hunger and her poverty as leverage to get a child to engage in sexual activity with you, in exchange for $38. There existed a gross power imbalance between you, because of your age and relative economic circumstances.
38You blatantly exploited this situation for your own sexual gratification. That makes your moral culpability for this offence especially high. I consider Charge 2 the most serious of the offences on the indictment.
39Charge 3, cause child abuse material to be transmitted to himself, also has a 15 year maximum penalty. This offence involves the transmission of two images, the first of which was an image of a young topless child holding her breasts. This falls within Category 1 of child exploitation material. The second image, an image of a naked female child engaging in a sexual act with a male, is more serious and falls within Category 2.
40The offending occurred in circumstances where you understood you were speaking to a person describing herself as a single mother, who said she was 'hard-working' and said that she needed help to buy food. The images you caused to be transferred were, you believed, images of her two daughters aged 11 and 12.
41Whilst there is no evidence that you paid for those images to be transmitted, the Skype conversation transcript reveals that the prospect of future payment for a 'show’, was the context in which the purported single mother shared child abuse images of children you believed to be her own.
42Whilst neither the volume of images caused to be transmitted nor their nature places this offence at the upper end of seriousness, the actions you took to cause the transmission still makes this a serious example of the offence.
43In relation to Charge 3, with your consent, I must also take into account pursuant to s16BA, the charge relating to your conduct in June 2017. This has the effect of increasing the penalty otherwise appropriate on Charge 3, to give greater weight to the need for specific deterrence.
44Charge 4, encouraging an offence, namely engaging in sexual intercourse outside Australia, carries a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment. Your offending is not comprised of a single event. Rather, the charge is a 'rolled up' compilation of multiple communications you had by text conversation over Skype, with a person you referred to as 'Sarina'.
45You encouraged the offence against the same victim with whom you had engaged in the sexual activity the subject of Charge 2. In effect, this charge is about your pursuit of further and more serious sexual engagement with that victim.
46This conduct was persistent and done with full knowledge that you had been told she was 13 and turning 14 on 24 September 2019. The conversations, especially in the context of the earlier online sexual activity, reveal that you desired to have in person sexual contact with the child victim. The encouragement the subject of the charge went so far as to suggest that you may in fact be in the Philippines on 1 November 2019.
47I agree with the submission that Charge 4 is the second most serious of the charges on the indictment.
48Charge 5, possess child abuse material, relates to the 173 items, including 11 videos, located across four separate devices in your possession and on your Skype account.
49There is no evidence that any of the images were possessed for the purposes of further dissemination, nor for the purpose of any financial gain.
50One of the videos was the 24 minute Skype video with the victim Judy, that was the subject of Charge 2.
51Of the 173 items, 135 were in Category 1, which involves children being depicted in a sexual manner, but without any sexual activity being shown. That leaves 38 of the items showing children engaged in sexual activity. Those 38 computer files are records of children being the victim of sexual offending. Three of those images were in Category 5, which involved 'sadism, bestiality, and child abuse'.
52The number and nature of the child abuse files is modest when compared with other examples of the offence that have been dealt with by the courts. However, the nature of the offence requires the possessor of the material, to be part of a global market for the abuse of children. The offence is inherently serious by nature.
53Viewed in totality, your offending represents ongoing conduct showing an interest in, the pursuit of, and the achievement of, child sexual abuse over a substantial period of time. It was not spontaneous or isolated, but carried out in various forms on 3 June 2017, and intermittently, between 26 December 2018 and 29 November 2019.
54General deterrence is the primary sentencing consideration for offending involving child sexual abuse and child pornography. Activity of this nature is prevalent and hugely damaging to children. It is often difficult to detect, but the internet makes the capacity to commit these offences endemic. Personal mitigatory factors such as good character, age and prospects of rehabilitation must therefore be given less weight than they might otherwise be given.
55Specific deterrence, denunciation, punishment, and protection of the community are very important sentencing considerations.
Personal circumstances of any victim of the offence
56The victim in relation to Charge 2 has provided a victim impact statement.[7] She is still only 15 years of age. It is necessary when sentencing for sexual crimes against children, to presume that the offending will cause serious harm to the victim.
[7]Prosecution Exhibit 2.
57The victim impact statement reveals that she has now been taken by the Philippines national police from her home where the offending occurred. She has been separated from her mother because of her mother’s participation in the abuse. She says that she was 'really uncomfortable' by your request that she 'finger herself', and that she was 'very upset' when she saw the video of that abuse that you had retained. She feels 'anxious and sometimes get a sick feeling within myself' when she thinks about you. She always thinks about 'how Phil destroyed my life'.
58Your actions have caused substantial suffering already, and can be expected to continue to have ongoing detrimental effects on your victim’s life.
59I am instructed that a financial settlement that has been reached between you and the victim. You have now paid $40,000 and have executed a deed of settlement. Whilst this does not diminish the impact your offending had on the victim, it will provide some level of compensation that assists her life going forward.
Plea of Guilty
60You first indicated an intention to plead guilty to the charges on the indictment on 26 March 2021. This resolution was reached on what was to be the first day of a contested committal hearing. As a result of your plea of guilty, no witnesses were required to give evidence.
61You are entitled to the benefit that accrues from a plea of guilty that has been entered at a relatively early stage of proceedings, though not what I would regard as the earliest reasonable opportunity. By your plea of guilty, you spared the time and resources that would otherwise have been expended on contested proceedings. The utilitarian benefit that flows from your plea is especially valuable, given the pandemic restrictions that have placed extreme pressure on court listings.
62You have admitted a prior criminal history that involves previous court appearances, but no prior convictions. There are no matters in that history which are of relevance to this current sentencing process.
Personal Circumstances
63You were aged between 58 and 59 at the time of the offending and are now 61 at sentence.
64You are the fourth of your parents seven children. You have three sisters and three brothers. You are close to the majority of your siblings, though clearly the revelation of this offending has put strain on those relationships. Despite this, you are fortunate to have some continuing family support.[8]
[8]Defence Exhibit 6.
65Your father passed away in 2004. Your mother is now 85 years old and you are in frequent contact with her. She resides with your younger brother.
66You have two children from two previous relationships. Your daughter is 33 years old. You have not had any contact with her since your arrest. Your son is 26 years old. He has remained supportive and provided a character reference on your behalf.[9]
[9]Defence Exhibit 7.
67You are not currently in a relationship.
68You attended Marcellin College up until Year 11 before repeating Year 11 at Balwyn High School.
69After leaving school in 1977, you commenced full-time work as a trainee train driver with Vic Rail. You completed a five and a half year apprenticeship and then became a suburban train driver. You continued in this employment until 1991.
70After leaving the railways, you bought a petrol station in Chelsea. This business was successful and employed six workers. You opened a second petrol station which was less successful, and sold that second station in 2001.
71You then returned to work with the railways and continue to own the original Chelsea petrol station.
72In 2008, you moved to Western Australia and worked as a train driver. You moved into the role of driver trainer and assessor with Rio Tinto. You were working with Rio Tinto at the time of your arrest. They terminated your employment upon you being charged. You have not been employed since that time.
73The loss of your employment has been one of a number of consequences from your actions. The charges against you have been the subject, quite legitimately, of a number of media reports. This lead to you being socially ostracised within the small local community where you live. These are foreseeable consequences of your own criminal activity. Notwithstanding that, you have no one else to blame for those outcomes but yourself, I accept that as a collective, they represent some limited form of extra curial punishment and I take that into account.
74You have suffered two heart attacks in the past two years. This has resulted in two operations to insert stents. You are on a regime of various medications for your heart condition.
75In November 2020, you tore a tendon in your left arm, which still causes you some functional difficulties. This injury is managed by massage and sports therapy treatment.
76You are also awaiting surgery to fix an anal fissure.
77Your health issues will require ongoing medical treatment and will make imprisonment more burdensome for you, than for someone not enduring those conditions.
78The impacts of the pandemic on the prison environment has included, but is not limited to, limits on visits and the availability of educational and rehabilitative programs. The spectre of contracting COVID 19 whilst in custody is an additional concern for you to bear, especially having regard for your existing health concerns.
79You are also entering a prison environment that is, and will remain for the foreseeable future, more burdensome than would otherwise have been the case.
The Prospect of Rehabilitation of the Person
80Subsection 16A(2AAA) of the Act provides that:
'A court sentencing an offender for a Commonwealth child sex offence must have regard to the objective of rehabilitating the person, including by considering whether it is appropriate:
(a) when making an order, to impose any conditions about rehabilitation or treatment options;
(b) in determining the length of any sentence or non-parole period, to include sufficient time for the person to undertake a rehabilitation program'.
81Since your arrest on these matters, you have commenced treatment with psychologist Tracy Allen. Two reports from Ms Allen were tendered on the plea, dated 23 March of 2021 and 21 August 2021.[10]
[10]Defence Exhibits 4 and 5.
82
Psychologist Luke Armstrong also undertook extensive assessments of your psychological condition. Two reports from Mr Armstrong were also tendered on your behalf, one from 26 June 2020 and another from 23 August 2021.[11]
Mr Armstrong also gave evidence at the plea hearing.
[11]Defence Exhibits 2 and 3.
83It was not contended by either expert that you suffer from any personality disorder or psychological condition. Both psychologists made it apparent that considerable deficits existed in relation to your empathy for the victims of your behaviour. Further, these deficits manifested themselves in what was observed to be some initial rationalisation of your conduct.
84Your more recent assessments by Ms Allen and Mr Armstrong, would indicate that significant progress has been made in relation to your own personal capacity for insight into your own behaviour and its consequences. Mr Armstrong says in his most recent report that you take full responsibility for your actions. He says that your remorse and empathy for the victim are in his opinion, genuine.
85The delay in finalising this matter since your arrest in November 2019, has permitted a more generous assessment of your contrition and prospects of rehabilitation than may well have been available, had you been sentenced on an earlier occasion.
86The combination of your plea of guilty, your ongoing engagement with professional treatment, and the observations by Mr Armstrong about your remorse, shows that you have some level of contrition for your offending. Payment of compensation to the victim is also consistent with this conclusion.
87Mr Armstrong’s testing assessed you to be at 'low – medium' risk of reoffending, a substantial improvement on his assessment a year earlier. Mr Armstrong did say, however, that further treatment is necessary.
88In a letter of 5 October 2021, Dr Allen notes what she regards as serious attempts that you have made to take your own life.[12] This information confirms that you will require an ongoing level of professional mental health assistance, whilst in custody and beyond.
[12]Defence Exhibit 8.
89It is much to your benefit that you have continued to engage with treatment, and I have already noted the progress that has been made through that engagement. You do not have any relevant prior convictions and are otherwise of good character. You still have some family support. These are positive matters going towards your prospects of rehabilitation.
90Against that, was the persistent nature of your offending. Until it was discovered through your arrest at the airport, you had demonstrated an ongoing interest in sexual activity with children and a willingness to act on that interest. Your offending reveals that you have been capable of placing your own sexual gratification, above any consideration for the welfare of children. You appeared, at best, indifferent to their circumstances. You were prepared to exploit their hunger and their poverty for your own purposes.
91The nature of this offending means that wherever an internet connection is available, an opportunity to offend exists. I must also consider that you are now 61 years old and facing a period of imprisonment for the first time in your life.
92Having regard for all of these factors ,I consider that your prospects of rehabilitation are reasonable, and are capable of improving, if you maintain your current commitment to engaging with appropriate professional services and that such services are made available to you.
93There remains a need in this case to impose a sentence that acts to deter you from further offending.
Delay
94You were arrested on these matters on 8 November 2019. The matter was listed for a committal mention on 22 May 2020 and listed for a contested committal on 26 March 2021. The matter resolved on that day as a straight hand-up brief, with you indicating a plea of guilty. The plea hearing proceeded on 25 August 2021. These time frames are broadly consistent with what might have been expected even prior to the pressures placed on the courts by the pandemic. The delay applicable in this case could not be said to be inordinate or even unusual. A substantial portion of that delay was attributable to the matter still being contested up until the day of the committal.
95Whilst I accept that this matter has weighed heavily on you for the 23 months since your arrest, I did not consider that this is a matter where the delay represents a significant form of punishment in and of itself.
96I have, as I have already noted, acknowledged that there has now been a process of rehabilitation engaged in since the offending.
Submissions on Sentence
97Ms Breckweg, on behalf of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, submitted that a term of immediate imprisonment with a non-parole period being fixed was required.[13]
[13]Prosecution Exhibit 4.
98Mr Dickenson submitted on your behalf, that in light of the significant matters raised in mitigation, it would be open to the court to impose a sentence which facilitates your ongoing rehabilitation by way of your immediate release on a recognisance release order.[14]
[14]Defence Exhibit 1.
Commonwealth Sentence Factors
99I must impose sentences that are appropriate for each individual charge. The distinct nature of each of the five charges means that a degree of cumulation is necessary. In making such orders for cumulation, I must be conscious to ensure that the total effective sentence is appropriate, having regard to the entirety of the criminality reflected by the charges on the indictment and the matters in mitigation.
100A court sentencing for a Commonwealth offence must have regard for sentences imposed by intermediate appellate court in other states and territories to achieve consistency, in sentencing for federal offences. In this case, the Crown have referred to a table containing three different cases,[15] all of which are conceded to be very different from the matter currently before the court. Whilst the cases are not of particular worth as direct comparisons with this one, they do provide guidance as to the general sentencing principles applicable, when sentencing for offences involving child sexual activity and child exploitation material. In a broad sense, it can be seen that substantial periods of imprisonment have been imposed for matters of that nature.
[15]Prosecution Exhibit 5.
101In sentencing for a Commonwealth matter, the court must not pass a sentence of imprisonment unless satisfied, having considered all other available sentences, that no other sentence is appropriate in all the circumstances of the case.
102It has not been suggested in this case that in all the circumstances, any other sentence, save for a period of imprisonment was appropriate, albeit the defence submitted that you should be released forthwith on a recognisance release order.[16] Having regard for the objective gravity of the offences, the need for deterrence and an adequate punishment, and balancing the matters in mitigation including the plea of guilty and the prospects of rehabilitation as I have found them to be, I have concluded that no other sentence, bar imprisonment on each charge, is appropriate in all the circumstances.
[16]Prosecution Exhibit 7 and Defence Exhibit 1.
Sentence
103Mr Cooper, I sentence you as follows:
104On Charge 2, engage in sexual activity (other than sexual intercourse) with a child outside Australia, you are convicted and sentenced to two years and nine months imprisonment. This sentence is to commence today.
105On Charge 1, use carriage service to solicit child pornography material, you are convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment. This sentence is to commence five months prior to the expiry of the sentence imposed on Charge 2.
106On Charge 3, use carriage service to cause sexual abuse material to be transmitted to self, you are convicted and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment. This sentence is to commence 11 months prior to the expiration of the sentence imposed on Charge 2.
107On Charge 4, encourage an offence, namely engaging in sexual intercourse outside Australia, you are convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment. This sentence is to commence 11 months prior to the expiration of the sentence imposed on Charge 2.
108On Charge 5, possess child abuse material obtained or accessed using a carriage service, you are convicted and sentenced to nine months imprisonment. This sentence is to commence six months prior to the expiration of the sentence imposed on Charge 4.
109This makes for a total effective sentence of four years and one month's imprisonment. I fix a non-parole period of two years and six months. I declare 26 days of pre-sentence detention to be already served.
110Charge 2 on the indictment is a Class 1 registrable offence, and Charges 1, 3 and 4 are Class 2 registerable offences under the Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004 (Vic).
111You are a registrable offender as defined in the Act, and will be required to comply with reporting conditions for life. A copy of your reporting obligations will be forwarded to your instructing solicitor, who I would ask to undertake to provide that to you. I do not require you to sign the document acknowledging that you have received that form.
112Pursuant to s6AAA Sentencing Act 1991, I declare that but for your plea of guilty, I would have imposed a total effective sentence of five years and six months imprisonment with a non-parole period of four years. Now are there any other orders required?
113MS BRECKWEG: No, Your Honour.
114HIS HONOUR: Now I know in sentencing for Commonwealth matters, it's a little more complicated to work out, but - - -
115MS BRECKWEG: It looks like - - -
116HIS HONOUR: On the - - -
117MS BRECKEG: It looks like to me, so far - - -
118HIS HONOUR: Nothing struck you as being mathematically incorrect?
119MS BRECKWEG: No, no, Your Honour.
120HIS HONOUR: Very well. Well can I say if - I will not - I will hold off signing the order. Well I'll have to sign the orders quickly because he's got to go into custody, but I just want to make sure everyone just has a chance to go through that, because I know it is an unfortunately clunky way to have to cumulate a sentence, but just repeating it, it should add up to a total effective sentence of four years and one month's imprisonment, with a non-parole period of two years and six months, with 26 days of pre-sentence detention already served. All right, well unless - unless there's - - -
121MS BRECKWEG: Yes, Your Honour.
122HIS HONOUR: - - - anything further, I will now adjourn the court until 2.15.
123MS BRECKWEG: As Your Honour pleases.
124HIS HONOUR: Thank you.
125MR DICKINSON: As Your Honour pleases.
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