The offender was sentenced following a plea of guilty to 1 count of using a carriage service to transmit and solicit child pornography material, 1 count of using a carriage service to transmit and make available child pornography material, 1 count of using a carriage service to transmit, solicit, and make available child pornography material, 1 count of using a carriage service to transmit, solicit, make available, and cause child pornography material to be transmitted to themselves offences contrary to s 474.19(1) of the Commonwealth Criminal Code. Additional state offence.
Nature and Circumstances: Where material is obtained for personal use, significance of quantity lies more in number of different children depicted and therefore victimised than the volume of material. Each of the children were victimised by offender on every occasion that an image of them was transmitted and viewed. Offender transmitted and possessed material for 8 to 9 months. Offender transmitted material to 11 different recipients.
Rehabilitation, Mental Condition: Offender diagnosed with autism, social anxiety and Tourette’s syndrome. There is a relationship between offender’s mental disorder, being the offender’s autism spectrum disorder, and their offending behaviour. Prospects of rehabilitation remained guarded.
Contrition: No evidence indicating offender has any remorse for conduct. There was complete lack of remorse and contrition at time of offending, as evidenced by content of communications between offender and unknown person with whom offender engaged in the transmission of material. Ongoing denial demonstrates this lack of remorse continues. Offender’s lack of remorse should be viewed in context of the offender’s mental conditions.
Offender sentenced to 39 months’ imprisonment, to be released on recognisance release order after 15 months.
Nature and Circumstances: Where material is obtained for personal use, significance of quantity lies more in number of different children depicted and therefore victimised than the volume of material. Each of the children were victimised by offender on every occasion that an image of them was transmitted and viewed. Offender transmitted and possessed material for 8 to 9 months. Offender transmitted material to 11 different recipients.
Rehabilitation, Mental Condition: Offender diagnosed with autism, social anxiety and Tourette’s syndrome. There is a relationship between offender’s mental disorder, being the offender’s autism spectrum disorder, and their offending behaviour. Prospects of rehabilitation remained guarded.
Contrition: No evidence indicating offender has any remorse for conduct. There was complete lack of remorse and contrition at time of offending, as evidenced by content of communications between offender and unknown person with whom offender engaged in the transmission of material. Ongoing denial demonstrates this lack of remorse continues. Offender’s lack of remorse should be viewed in context of the offender’s mental conditions.
Offender sentenced to 39 months’ imprisonment, to be released on recognisance release order after 15 months.
