R v Frewin [2021] NSWDC 114

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Frewin [2021] NSWDC 114 Hearing dates: 2 March 2021 Date of orders: 5 March 2021 Decision date: 05 March 2021 Jurisdiction: Criminal Before: Buscombe DCJ Decision: Overall sentence imposed one of 4 years and 6 months imprisonment with non-parole period of 2 years Catchwords: CRIME — Commonwealth offences — Child sex offences — Child abuse material — Using carriage service for child pornography material or child abuse material CRIME — Commonwealth offences — Child sex offences — Using carriage service to groom person < 16 years for sexual activity Legislation Cited: Criminal Code (Cth) ss 474.27A(1), 474.27(1), 474.17(1), 474.26(1) Cases Cited: R v Pham [2015] HCA 39 Category: Sentence Parties: Director of Public Prosecutions (Crown) Mr Frewin (Offender) Representation: Solicitors: Mr Von Treifeldt (Crown) Mr Boom (Offender) File Number(s): 2020/150396 2020/304246 Publication restriction: Non-publication order re identity of the complainant

SENTENCE

Introduction 1. The offender stands to be sentenced having pleaded guilty to five offences under the Commonwealth's Criminal Code. The first four offences concerned a young person JH who was 13 years of age at the time of the offences. The fifth offence concerned a police officer posing as an assumed online identity Tahlia Evans who represented that they were 14 years of age. 2. Two of the offences concerning JH are in identical terms in that they are under s 474.27A(1) of the Commonwealth's Criminal Code: that between 1 August 2019 and 30 September 2019 the offender used a carriage service to transmit indecent communication to a person under the age of 16 years. Each of those offences has a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment. 3. The third offence concerning JH is under s 474.27(1) of the Commonwealth's Criminal Code, and is an offence that between 20 June 2019 and 16 August 2019 the offender used a carriage service to transmit a communication to the recipient JH, a person under 16 years, with the intention of making it easier to procure that person to engage in sexual activity with himself. That offence has a maximum penalty of 12 years imprisonment. 4. The fourth offence concerning JH is under s 474.17(1) of the Commonwealth's Criminal Code and is an offence that between 1 August 2019 and 31 August 2019 the offender used a carriage service in a way that reasonable persons would regard as menacing. That offence carries a maximum penalty of three years imprisonment. 5. The fifth and final offence for which the offender stands to be sentenced concerns an assumed online identity and is an offence that on or about 25 November 2019 the offender used a carriage service to transmit a communication to a recipient that he believed was under 16 years of age with the intention of procuring the recipient to engage in sexual activity with himself. That offence is an offence under s 474.26(1) of the Commonwealth's Criminal Code, it has a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment. 6. These are, as I say, Commonwealth offences and I am required to sentence the offender in accordance with pt 1B of the Commonwealth's Crimes Act, with particular regard to s 16A(1) and (2).