A South Australian Judge has sentenced a man who sexually penetrated a number of chickens and attempted to sexually penetrate his dog to 6 years and 7 month prison with a non parole period of 3 and a half years.
Oh he also raped his 11 year old step-daughter and 3 year old biological daughter.
Judge Paul Muscat said the offending was serious and "unnatural".
However he gave credit to the man for his voluntary confessions to crimes as well as his dedication to rehabilitation.
Quote:You appear determined and motivated to engage in treatment and address your abhorrent and abnormal sexual behaviours, which is imperative in order to reduce your risk of further sexual offending
He sentenced the man to six years and seven months' jail with a non-parole period of three-and-a-half years, backdated to December 2015 when he was taken into custody.
"If the sentence imposed on you seems to some to be moderate then that is the product of your voluntary confessions and the healthy sentencing discounts which apply," Judge Muscat said.
And right there is an explanation of an issue that sticks in peoples throat like a bad taste. Sentences that do not fit the crime.
As we all know Parliament in each state sets the laws for various crimes within that jurisdiction. And it is a Judicial Officer's job to interpret and apply the law.
This man plead guilty to two counts of bestiality, one count of persistent sexual exploitation of a child and one count of aggravated indecent assault.
In South Australia the maximum penalty for bestiality is 10 years, aggravated indecent assault also 10 years and persistent sexual exploitation of a child is life imprisonment.
This man will likely do only 3 and a half years.
Why? Because of the way the sentencing provisions work.
You get an immediate discount on your sentence if you plead guilty. The earlier you plead, the greater the discount.
This is to encourage offenders to spare the court time and money for trials and to spar victims the need to relive the crimes in a courtroom.
As Judge Muscat said
Quote:Offenders should be encouraged to come clean and accept full responsibility for their criminal actions and then take steps to address the issues which led to their offending, as you have done
The judge is then also required, by law, to take the circumstances of the defendant into consideration when applying a sentence. Does the defendant show remorse, what are their personal circumstances, have they been cooperative? All these can lead to a greater sentence reduction.
There is also the totality principle. The totality principle is a common law principle which applies when a court imposes multiple sentences of imprisonment.
Quote:The effect of the totality principle is to require a sentencer who has passed a series of sentences, each properly calculated in relation to the offence for which it is imposed and each properly made consecutive in accordance with the principles governing consecutive sentences, to review the aggregate sentence and consider whether the aggregate is 'just and appropriate'. The principle has been stated many times in various forms: 'when a number of offences are being dealt with and specific punishments in respect of them are being totted up to make a total, it is always necessary for the court to take a last look at the total just to see whether it looks wrong'; 'when ... cases of multiplicity of offences come before the court, the court must not content itself by doing the arithmetic and passing the sentence which the arithmetic produces. It must look at the totality of the criminal behaviour and ask itself what is the appropriate sentence for all the offences.'
The totality principle is well established in the common law of Australia, s well as to prevent an excessive sentence, the principle is a product of two further principles namely proportionality and mercy. Further, the principle must be applied without a suggestion that a discount is given for multiple offences.
This is why we see such light sentences being handed out to offenders who commit horrific crimes like child abuse.
One of the first things you learn working in the legal profession is that justice and the law are two different things.
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Beastiality and incest? Slap on the wrist (Read 1295 times)
