PATERSON v DPP [2021] NSWDC 474

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: PATERSON v DPP [2021] NSWDC 474 Hearing dates: 18 August 2021 Date of orders: 21 September 2021 Decision date: 21 September 2021 Jurisdiction: Criminal Before: Lerve DCJ Decision: Order confirmed with exceptions Catchwords: CRIME – appeal against an order pursuant to section 5(1) of the Child Protection (Offender's Prohibition Orders) Act, 2004 Legislation Cited: Child Protection (Offender's Prohibition Orders) Act, 2004 Child Protection (Offender's Registration) Act 2000 Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) Crimes Act, 1900 Cases Cited: Gale v R [2021] NSWCCA 16 McNaughton (2006) 66 NSWLR 566; [2006] NSWCCA 242 R v Patterson [2020] NSWDC 416 Tepania v R [2018] NSWCCA 247 Veen v The Queen (No. 2) (1988) 164 CLR 465 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Troy PATERSON Director of Public Prosecutions Representation: Solicitors: Ms B Winn, Aboriginal Legal Service (for Appellant) Mr S Matchett, Office of Director of Public Prosecutions (for the Respondent) File Number(s): 2021/134986 Publication restriction: No

Judgment 1. On 24 May 2021 the Local Court at Wagga Wagga made an order pursuant to section 5(1) of the Child Protection (Offender's Prohibition Orders) Act, 2004 against the appellant. By Notice of Appeal dated 11 June 2021 the appellant brings an appeal against the first two orders made by the Local Court. 2. The orders made by the Local Court according to Final Order within the papers before me were: The Local Court, being satisfied that Troy Owen Paterson is a registrable person pursuant to the Child Protection (Offender's Registration) Act 2000 made a Child Protection Prohibition Order. The Local Court orders that Troy Owen Paterson is prohibited from engaging in specific conduct namely that the respondent not for a period of 5 years: 1. Actively seek or remain in the company of any person under the age of 18 years unless for the purpose of retail or customer service (i.e. grocery shopping, medical services); 2. Actively communicate or attempt to communicate with any person under the age of 18 years including but not limited to in person, over the phone, in writing or over the internet; 3. Not to create, activate or access any social media accounts, including but not limited to Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and dating application websites; 4. Not to create profiles, activate or access any internet market sites, including but not limited to Gumtree, eBay, Facebook Marketplace; 5. Not to own or use more than one mobile phone number at any time. 1. The hearing proceeded with both parties making brief oral submissions on 18 August 2021. There is no issue so far as orders 3, 4 and 5 are concerned. The appeal is limited to Orders 1 and 2. The matter was mentioned in court again on 23 August 2021. 2. Exhibit A on the appeal is the tender bundle prepared by the Crown. It is indexed and contains numerous documents relating to the appellant's background and in particular to the convictions recorded against him that have led to him being a registrable person under the Child Protection (Offender's Registration) Act. MFI 1 is the written submissions prepared by Ms Winn for the appellant. MFI 2 is a hard copy of an email between the legal representatives of the parties setting out possible proposed conditions. The conditions proposed in MFI 2 were acceptable to the appellant but the Crown's representative indicated that on his instructions they were not acceptable to the police officer who initiated the application before the Local Court.