R v Cattell [2019] NSWDC 504

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Cattell [2019] NSWDC 504 Hearing dates: 26 July 2019 Date of orders: 26 July 2019 Decision date: 26 July 2019 Jurisdiction: Criminal Before: Grant DCJ Decision: An aggregate sentence of imprisonment for a period of 30 months, commencing 26 July 2019 and expiring 25 January 2022. There is a non-parole period of 9 months. The offender will be eligible for release to parole on 25 April 2020. Catchwords: CRIME — Child sex offences — Historical offences SENTENCING — Subjective considerations on sentence — Delay — Where matters could have been dealt with at earlier sentencing proceedings Legislation Cited: Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act Crimes Act 1900 Cases Cited: EG v R [2015] NSWCCA 21 Magnuson [2013] NSWCCA 50 Moon v R [2000] NSWCCA 534 Porter v R [2019] NSWCCA 117 R v Hibbard [2009] NSWCCA 20 R v Johnson; R v Holder (1983) 3 NSWLR 245 Texts Cited: Royal Commission into Institutional Response to Child Sexual Abuse Category: Sentence Parties: Regina (Crown) Richard St John Cattell (Offender) Representation: Counsel: N Marney (Solicitor Advocate - Crown) S Climo (Offender) File Number(s): 2017/00073102; 2017/00370653; 2017/00370870; 2018/00086112 Publication restriction: Identifiers of victims. Note an appeal has been lodged against this judgment.

Judgment

INTRODUCTION 1. The offender appears for sentence in relation to historical sex offences from 1968 to 1990. Those offences are: 1. Indecent assault, RC H65538230/1, contrary to s 81 of the Crimes Act. Maximum penalty five years, no standard non parole period. 2. Indecent assault, MO H65584387/1, contrary to s 81 of the Crimes Act. Maximum penalty five years, no standard non-parole period. 3. Indecent assault, MO H6558487/6, contrary to s 81 of the Crimes Act. Maximum penalty five years, no standard non-parole period. 4. Sexual assault category 4, indecent assault of person under 16 years under authority, JM H66364548/1, contrary to s 61E (1A), Crimes Act. Maximum penalty six years, no standard non-parole period. 5. Sexual assault category 4, indecent assault of person under 16 years under authority, JM H66364548/4, contrary to s 61E (1A) Crimes Act. Maximum penalty six years, no standard non-parole period. 6. Sexual intercourse with person ten years and under 16 years, PP H67303146/5, contrary to s 66C(1) of the Crimes Act. Maximum penalty eight years, no standard non-parole period. 7. Aggravated indecent assault under authority, GO H65584387/7, contrary to s 61M(1) of the Crimes Act. Maximum penalty seven years, no standard non-parole period. 1. The offender has asked me to take into account two matters on a Form 1 which are referrable to the victim MO and are to be taken into account on sentence I announce for H65584387/1. Those two matters are indecent act with a male contrary to s 81A, maximum penalty two years and indecent assault male contrary to s 81 of the Crimes Act, maximum penalty five years. 2. He has also asked me to take into account a further Form 1 which contains one offence in relation to the victim JN and is to be taken into account on the sentence I announce for H66364548/1. It is a sexual assault category 4 indecent assault person under 16 years under authority contrary to s 61E(1A), maximum penalty six years. 3. The maximum penalty is an important guidepost in the assessment of sentence. A judge should steer by the maximum penalty but not aim for it. 4. The offender committed a number of offences between 1968 and 1991 while serving as a Catholic priest in New South Wales. Some offences committed by the offender have previously been dealt with in sentencing proceedings in 1994, 2015 and 2016.