Last week a man from Mandurah was sentenced by a District Court judge to six years in prison for sexually assaulting his step-daughter, who was four-years-old at the time of his first offence against her.
He will most likely be out in four, because the judge ordered he would become eligible for parole in 2020.
The details of his crimes are horrific and don’t bear repeating here, but sitting in court as the judge read out the particulars and details of his crimes was sickening.
Judge Troy Sweeney said the man’s offending was “frightening and traumatic” for his victim and was a “gross breach of trust because [the offender] was supposed to be a father figure”.
She said the jury had accepted evidence the offences for which the man had been convicted were not isolated incidents, but formed a pattern of abuse occurring over many years.
He was not sentenced for this pattern of abuse, just the offences for which the jury had found him guilty.
The most recent crime for which he was convicted occurred when the girl was either 11 or 12.
But Judge Sweeney also said the maximum penalty for the most serious conviction – aggravated sexual penetration of a child under 13 – was 20 years in prison.
After hearing the man’s crimes described and the impact they have had on the victim, it is difficult to imagine what kind of horrific offences that would lead to the imposition of a maximum penalty.
What this man did was about as horrific as it can get.
It was heartbreaking to hear of how the girl pleaded with him to stop.
And this clearly had an impact on the judge, as she repeated this detail in her sentencing remarks.
But then six years in jail, out in four?
The punishment did not seem to fit the crime and the Mandurah community reacted angrily, with some justification.
Although the sentencing of an offender should not be an emotional business, the views of the community must play a part in the decision.
In sentencing, do judges ask themselves, “what if this was my daughter, or my neighbour?” I imagine they do, but the weight of the law also bears down on them.
We all know the criminal justice system is far from perfect.
But it has to get serious about punishing the manifestly guilty.
Nathan Hondros
Senior Journalist for the Mandurah Mail, Australian Community Media, and Fairfax Media.
Senior Journalist for the Mandurah Mail, Australian Community Media, and Fairfax Media.
