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District Court 2 August 2024

R v Williscroft

[2024] NSWDC 429

Sexual offences

Citation: R v Williscroft [2024] NSWDC 429
Court: District Court of New South Wales
Date: 2 August 2024
Judge: Haesler SC DCJ

Background

The offender pleaded guilty to nine offences arising from a police search of his home on 30 December 2022. Authorities seized three USB drives, a laptop, and a mobile phone, which together contained more than 123 gigabytes of child abuse material across 90 folders, comprising at least 15,000 photographs and 75 videos.

The offending spanned both State and Commonwealth law. Eight charges were brought under New South Wales legislation and one under the Commonwealth Criminal Code. The conduct included producing child abuse material by covertly photographing young girls near his residence, grooming a child known to him since she was four years old, sending her explicit material, inducing her to send naked images of herself, and filming himself performing sexual acts on public trains in the presence of both children and adult females.

The offender had indicated an intention to plead guilty at the Local Court stage. The charges were negotiated and refined before being presented by indictment in the District Court, where the offender reaffirmed all guilty pleas.

  • What sentences were appropriate across eight State offences and one Commonwealth offence, applying both State and Commonwealth sentencing legislation?
  • How should the standard non-parole period for the grooming offence (Count 3) be applied, and was there justification for departing from it?
  • To what extent did the offender's guilty pleas, mental health conditions (including Schizoaffective Disorder, ADHD, and Adjustment Disorder), and cooperation during remand operate as mitigating factors?
  • How should the totality principle govern the aggregate State sentence and the sequencing of Commonwealth and State terms?
  • Did special circumstances exist to justify altering the statutory ratio between the non-parole period and the balance of the sentence?

Decision

Haesler SC DCJ held that custodial sentences of meaningful length were plainly required given the nature and volume of the offending. The court emphasised that sentencing must be approached in a principled manner through instinctive synthesis, weighing all relevant factors rather than mechanically applying maximum penalties or standard non-parole periods as starting points.

The court accepted that the standard non-parole period for the grooming offence provided an important guide but was not determinative. Departure from it was warranted by the guilty plea, the relative objective seriousness of that particular count, and the offender's history of mental illness.

Each guilty plea was recognised as carrying utilitarian value. Each indicated sentence was reduced by 25 per cent to reflect that value. For the Commonwealth offence, an additional consideration was the offender's cooperation during remand and assistance in the course of justice; a 25 per cent reduction also applied on that count. The court found special circumstances existed, justifying an adjustment to the non-parole period ratio across the State aggregate sentence to allow for a longer period of supervision and monitoring in the community upon release.

The court structured the sentences so that the Commonwealth term ran first, commencing 4 March 2023, with the State aggregate sentence commencing partway through the Commonwealth term, on 4 November 2024.

Orders Made

Commonwealth offence (Count 9):
- Sentence of 4 years and 6 months imprisonment, commencing 4 March 2023
- Release to parole after serving 2 years and 8 months, pursuant to s 19AL of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth)

State offences (aggregate sentence), commencing 4 November 2024:
- Count 1 (produce child abuse material): 1 year and 6 months
- Count 2 (produce child abuse material): 2 years and 1 month
- Count 3 (grooming): 3 years, with an indicative non-parole period of 2 years
- Count 4 (sexual act without consent): 6 months
- Count 5 (sexual act without consent): 6 months
- Count 6 (produce child abuse material): 1 year and 3 months
- Count 7 (sexual act without consent): 6 months
- Count 8 (produce child abuse material): 1 year and 3 months
- Aggregate State sentence: 5 years and 3 months, commencing 4 November 2024
- Non-parole period: 2 years and 10 months; eligible for parole 1 September 2027
- Parole period: 2 years and 5 months; total State sentence expires 2 February 2030
- Release to parole subject to determination by the State Parole Authority

Total effective sentence: 6 years and 11 months, with a total effective non-parole period of 4 years and 6 months.

Key Takeaways

  • The District Court confirmed that instinctive synthesis requires a court to weigh all relevant factors holistically. Maximum penalties and standard non-parole periods serve as important guides but are not the mechanical starting point for a sentencing exercise.
  • A standard non-parole period may be departed from where the offender's guilty plea, the relative objective seriousness of the specific offence, and a significant history of mental illness collectively justify a different result.
  • Guilty pleas carry utilitarian value regardless of the seriousness of the offending; here, a 25 per cent reduction was applied to all counts on that basis.
  • Where both Commonwealth and State offences are to be sentenced together, the court must apply the distinct legislative frameworks governing each jurisdiction, including the separate parole provisions under s 19AL of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) and State equivalents.
  • A finding of special circumstances permits adjustment of the non-parole period ratio, allowing a longer period of post-release supervision where an offender's circumstances, including mental illness and addiction in remission, make ongoing community supervision appropriate.

Legislation and Cases Referenced

Legislation:
- Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), ss 61KE(a), 66EB(3), 91H(2)
- Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW), s 5
- Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999 (NSW)
- Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987 (NSW)
- Crimes Act 1914 (Cth), ss 17A, 19AL
- Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth), s 474.22A(1)

Cases:
- Director of Public Prosecutions (Cth) v De La Rosa (2010) 79 NSWLR 1; [2010] NSWCCA 194
- Minehan v R [2010] NSWCCA 140
- R v Booth [2009] NSWCCA 89
- R v Hutchinson [2018] NSWCCA 152