R v Roberts [2019] NSWDC 234

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Roberts [2019] NSWDC 234 Hearing dates: 16 April 2019 Date of orders: 29 April 2019 Decision date: 29 April 2019 Jurisdiction: Criminal Before: Buscombe DCJ Decision: Sentenced to an aggregate sentence of eight years imprisonment with a non-parole period of six years Catchwords: SENTENCING — historical child sexual offences — aggregate sentence of imprisonment Legislation Cited: Crimes Act Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act Cases Cited: Muldrock v The Queen (2011) 244 CLR 120 R v Egan [2016] NSWCCA 285 Category: Sentence Parties: Director of Public Prosecutions (Crown) David Clive Roberts (Offender) Representation: Counsel: A Cassels (Offender)

Solicitors: R Kanakaratne (Crown) File Number(s): 2018/000180137 Publication restriction: Statutory non-publication order concerning identity of complainants

SENTENCE 1. The offender pleaded guilty in the Local Court and adhered to those please before me to the following four offences, that between 1 January 1999 and 31 December 1999 at Penrith he assaulted AA and at the time of the assault committed an act of indecency on AA in circumstances of aggravation, namely, that at the time of the offence AA was under the age of 16 years, namely, aged 11 or 12 years. 2. There is a second offence in relation to AA and that is, that between 1 January 1999 and 31 December 1999, the offender assaulted AA and at the time of the assault committed an act of indecency on him in circumstances of aggravation in that at the time of the offence, AA was under the age of 16 years, namely 11 or 12 years of age. Both of the offences which involved the victim AA are offences under s 61M(1) of the Crimes Act. At the relevant time, they had a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment and there was no applicable standard non-parole period. 3. The two remaining offences concern the victim BB. The first is an offence between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 1998 at Penrith, the offender assaulted BB, a person then under the age of ten years, namely, seven or eight years of age and at the time of the assault committed an act of indecency on BB. That is an offence under s 61M(2) of the Crimes Act and at the relevant time, had a maximum penalty of ten years imprisonment and there was no applicable standard non-parole period. 4. The second offence involving BB was an offence that between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 1998 at Penrith, the offender had sexual intercourse with BB who was, at that time, under the age of ten years, namely, the age of seven or eight years. That was an offence under s 66A of the Crimes Act. There was at the time a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment with no applicable standard non-parole period.