Citation: Regina v Rick Stephen Giles [2008] NSWDC 54
Court: District Court of New South Wales
Date: 11 April 2008
Judge(s): Finnane QC DCJ
Background
The offender pleaded guilty to eight offences involving aggravated sexual intercourse with a child and one aggravated act of indecency. The victim was his stepdaughter, whom he had cared for since she was six months old. The offending began when she was just over 11 years old and continued until she was 15, spanning the period from 1995 to 1999.
The abuse came to light in late 2006 when the victim, then 23, disclosed the offending to her mother, fiancé and police. In August 2007, she agreed to wear a listening device and confront the offender. He immediately admitted the abuse and expressed remorse. He was arrested the same day and made full admissions in his police interview, acknowledging that he deserved punishment and that the victim's life had been adversely affected by his conduct.
At sentencing, the court had before it a psychological report, a letter from the offender expressing remorse, character references from his brother and an employer, and oral evidence from the offender himself. The psychologist assessed his risk of re-offending as low.
Legal Issues
- What sentence was appropriate for each of the eight offences, having regard to their objective seriousness?
- What discount, if any, was warranted for the guilty pleas, full admissions and expressed remorse?
- What weight should be given to the offender's prospects of rehabilitation in fixing the overall sentencing structure?
- Whether fixed terms or sentences with non-parole periods were appropriate for each offence, and how the sentences should be structured to reflect the totality principle.
Decision
Finnane QC DCJ found the offences were very serious. The charges were described as representative of frequent conduct across a period of approximately four years, encompassing penile-vaginal intercourse, digital penetration, cunnilingus and fellatio, as well as acts of indecency. The offender was in a position of trust and authority as the victim's stepfather, which significantly aggravated the offending.
The court gave meaningful credit to the offender's conduct both before and after his arrest. His immediate admissions to the victim and to police, his maintained guilty pleas, and his consistent expressions of remorse across multiple forums (including a personal letter to the court) distinguished him from many offenders in similar cases. The court found these admissions had spared the victim the ordeal of giving evidence at trial.
Finnane QC DCJ accepted that genuine prospects of rehabilitation existed, supported by the psychological assessment of low re-offending risk and the consistency of the offender's account across all settings. However, the court noted that the offender had offered no explanation for his conduct, and weighed that gap against the positive factors. The absence of an explanation was treated as a remaining uncertainty, though not one that displaced the overall finding of genuine remorse.
The overall sentence was structured so that the offender would become eligible for parole after serving approximately eleven years, with the final sentence carrying a non-parole period of three years and a balance of term extending to August 2023. The court expressly stated that the total sentence was considerably less than it would otherwise have been, in light of the offender's genuine acknowledgment of guilt.
Orders Made
- First offence: fixed term of 3 years imprisonment, commencing 4 August 2007, expiring 3 August 2010.
- Second offence: fixed term of 4 years imprisonment, commencing 4 August 2007, expiring 3 August 2011.
- Third offence: fixed term of 4 years imprisonment, commencing 4 August 2008, expiring 3 August 2012.
- Fourth offence: fixed term of 5 years imprisonment, commencing 4 August 2009, expiring 3 August 2014.
- Fifth offence: fixed term of 5 years imprisonment, commencing 4 August 2010, expiring 3 August 2015.
- Sixth offence: fixed term of 8 years imprisonment, commencing 4 August 2010, expiring 3 August 2018.
- Seventh offence: fixed term of 7 years imprisonment, commencing 4 August 2011, expiring 3 August 2018.
- Eighth offence: non-parole period of 3 years commencing 4 August 2015, expiring 3 August 2018; balance of term from 4 August 2018 to 3 August 2023.
- The court recommended the offender be afforded sexual rehabilitation programmes and be considered for parole only if he had demonstrated serious attempts at rehabilitation.
Key Takeaways
- Full and unprompted admissions to both the victim and police, maintained consistently through to sentencing, attracted significant mitigation in circumstances where such admissions were found to be genuine and not self-serving.
- A position of parental authority over the victim was treated as a substantial aggravating factor, reflecting the particular breach of trust involved in familial child sexual abuse.
- The District Court drew a clear distinction between offenders who minimise or deny their conduct and those who make full admissions: the latter may receive a meaningfully reduced overall sentence where rehabilitation prospects are genuinely supported by the evidence.
- Where an offender offers no explanation for the offending conduct, the court may still accept rehabilitation prospects but will weigh that gap when assessing the overall picture.
- Sentences imposed for representative charges in a pattern of sustained abuse are structured to reflect both the gravity of individual offences and the cumulative nature of the offending, with the totality principle shaping how individual terms are cascaded and whether fixed terms or parole-eligible sentences are imposed.
Legislation and Cases Referenced
Legislation:
- Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), s 61O (aggravated act of indecency) and s 66C (aggravated sexual intercourse with a person aged between 10 and 16 years)
Cases cited: No cases were cited in the portions of the judgment provided.