The offender was sentenced following pleas of guilty to 1 count of possessing or controlling child abuse material obtained or accessed using a carriage service contrary to s 474.22A(1) of the Commonwealth Criminal Code. An additional Commonwealth carriage service offence was also taken into account under s 16BA. Offender also sentenced for 14 counts of state child sexual abuse offences.
Nature and Circumstances: Offender’s devices and Microsoft OneDrive account contained 1,397 files (at least 990 of them being unique) containing child abuse material. 1,087 images fell under the Interpol Baseline Category 1 classification, 806 of which were unique; 3 videos fell under Category 1, all of which were unique; and 221 images fell under Category 2, 181 of which were unique. Offending was just below the mid-range of objective seriousness for offences against s 474.22A(1). The fact that the offending occurred in the victim’s home where they were entitled to feel safe was an aggravating factor. Victim Impact Statement speaks of the profound impact the offending has had on victim.
Rehabilitation: Psychologist assessed offender’s risk of recidivism using the Static-99R model as 1.39 times that of the average sexual offender. There is no expression of remorse. Whilst a guilty plea can be some evidence of remorse, offender has not expressed independently any remorse for their depraved behaviour. Offender’s prospects of rehabilitation are poor. This will remain so until they accept that they need treatment and assistance to deal with their sexual deviancy.
Offender sentenced to 3 years imprisonment for the Commonwealth offence.
