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District Court 16 June 2023

R v Crawford

[2023] NSWDC 203

Sexual offences
CRIME

Citation: R v Crawford [2023] NSWDC 203
Court: District Court of New South Wales
Date: 16 June 2023
Judge: Mahony SC DCJ

Background

The offender was a man who held positions of trust in two community contexts: as an acolyte at a Roman Catholic church and as an experienced netball coach. Over a period spanning 2016 to 2020, he committed multiple sexual offences against four complainants in those settings. Three complainants were children at the time of the relevant conduct; one was an adult.

The offender was tried on an indictment containing 16 counts and one alternative count. After pleading not guilty, a jury returned guilty verdicts on 13 counts following a trial in March 2023. The sentence hearing took place on 12 May 2023.

The offences ranged from an indecent assault on a 15-year-old parishioner at a church sacristy, to repeated intentional sexual touching of an 11-year-old during individual netball coaching sessions, to sexual touching without consent of young women aged 15 and 16. The conduct occurred across church premises, public netball courts, a club presentation function, and a representative netball event.

  • What sentences were appropriate for 13 counts of sexual offending across four complainants, spanning conduct between 2016 and 2020?
  • How should the totality principle apply when sentencing for multiple offences involving different complainants and different levels of seriousness?
  • What weight should be given to the aggravating feature of breach of trust, given the offender's positions as church acolyte and netball coach?
  • Whether terms of imprisonment, community correction orders, or conditional release orders were appropriate for each individual count.

Decision

The District Court sentenced the offender on each of the 13 counts individually, applying the applicable maximum penalties under the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW). The most serious counts involved the repeated intentional sexual touching of an 11-year-old child during netball coaching sessions, contrary to s 66DB(a), which carries a maximum of 10 years imprisonment. Count 1, involving the indecent assault of a 15-year-old parishioner under s 61M(2), carried a maximum of 10 years and a standard non-parole period of 8 years.

His Honour took into account the circumstances of each offence, including the vulnerability of child complainants, the exploitation of trust inherent in the coaching and church roles, and the pattern of offending across multiple victims over several years. The court also noted that the offender had been on bail subject to strict conditions since his arrest in 2020.

Mahony SC DCJ imposed a range of non-custodial orders across the counts, including Community Correction Orders and Conditional Release Orders, rather than terms of full-time imprisonment. The sentences reflected the court's assessment of each count's individual objective and subjective seriousness, as well as the requirements of totality.

Orders Made

The offender was convicted on all 13 counts and sentenced as follows:

  • Count 1 (indecent assault on LL, aged 15, between November 2016 and January 2017, s 61M(2)): Conditional Release Order, 6 months
  • Count 3 (sexual touching of LL without consent, November to December 2020, s 61KC(a)): Conditional Release Order (term not reproduced in the extracted text)
  • Count 5 (intentional sexual touching of IS, aged 11, March to June 2019, s 66DB(a)): Community Correction Order (specific term not reproduced in the extracted text)
  • Count 6 (intentional sexual touching of IS, aged 11, s 66DB(a)): Community Correction Order (specific term not reproduced in the extracted text)
  • Count 7 (intentional sexual touching of IS, aged 11, s 66DB(a)): Community Correction Order (specific term not reproduced in the extracted text)
  • Count 8 (intentional sexual touching of IS, aged 11, s 66DB(a)): Community Correction Order (specific term not reproduced in the extracted text)
  • Count 9 (intentional sexual touching of IS, aged 11, s 66DB(a)): Community Correction Order (specific term not reproduced in the extracted text)
  • Count 10 (intentional sexual touching of IS, aged 11, s 66DB(a)): Community Correction Order, 18 months
  • Count 11 (intentional sexual touching of IS, aged 11, s 66DB(a)): Community Correction Order, 12 months
  • Count 13 (attempted intentional sexual touching of IS, aged 11, ss 66DB(a) and 344A(1)): Community Correction Order, 12 months
  • Count 14 (intentional sexual touching of JA, aged 12, September 2019, s 66DB(a)): Conditional Release Order, 6 months
  • Count 16 (intentional sexual touching of JMA, aged 15, July 2019, s 66DB(a)): Conditional Release Order, 6 months
  • Count 17 (sexual touching of JMA without consent, aged 16, September 2020, s 61KC(a)): Community Correction Order, 2 years, with a condition requiring 150 hours of community service work

All orders commenced from 16 June 2023. The offender was directed to report to the Sutherland Community Corrections Office within 7 days.

Key Takeaways

  • The District Court dealt with 13 counts arising from sexual offending in two distinct community trust settings, illustrating how a pattern of conduct across multiple complainants and contexts is addressed through individual sentencing on each count alongside totality considerations.
  • Positions of community trust, such as a netball coach providing individual coaching to children, or a church volunteer with regular access to young parishioners, featured as relevant to the assessment of objective seriousness across multiple counts.
  • Repeated intentional sexual touching of an 11-year-old child during coaching sessions, carried out in circumstances designed to avoid observation, represented the most serious cluster of offending in this matter, attracting the most significant non-custodial orders.
  • Non-custodial orders, including Community Correction Orders and Conditional Release Orders under the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999, were imposed across all 13 counts rather than terms of full-time imprisonment.
  • Under s 66DB(a) of the Crimes Act 1900, intentional sexual touching of a child aged between 10 and 16 carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment; the attempt provision under s 344A(1) carries the same maximum.

Legislation and Cases Referenced

Legislation:
- Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), ss 61KC(a), 61M(2), 66DB(a), 344A(1)
- Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW), ss 8(1), 9(1)(a)

Cases:
- Gale v R [2022] NSWCCA 16
- R v Gavel [2014] NSWCCA 56
- R v Gent [2005] NSWCCA 370
- R v Mauger [2012] NSWCCA 51