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Facts in Relation to First Offence

4. The facts on which you are to be sentenced for the first offence are as follows.

5. You were the stepfather of TX. As such, you are in a position of authority being the only father figure she had known. Your offending therefore involves a serious breach of trust in the family home where TX should have been safe.

6. The initial offending included penile-anal penetration against TX’s protests and continued even though she told you that she was in pain.

7. You engaged in penile-anal intercourse with TX approximately once a week for six months. You did not use a condom.

8. You manipulated TX, telling her it was your little secret.

9. Your offending included cunnilingus.

10. Your offending came to an end after TX and you had an argument. Later, while drunk you apologised to TX, saying “I didn’t mean to do that to you… Mum wasn’t giving me what I wanted”.

Facts in Relation to Second Offence

11. With respect to the second offence, the facts on which you are to be sentenced are as follows.

12. LH was 11 years old when you commenced offending against her.

13. She was your stepdaughter’s close friend. To that extent, your offending also involved a significant breach of trust in that you were or should have been, whilst she was in your company, acting in loco parentis.

14. Your offending consisted of hugging, touching and clenching LH’s buttocks, having her dress up in her mother’s lingerie for your own gratification, asking her to send you intimate photos and you sending photos of your penis to her, the use of a vibrator and engaging in acts of penile-vaginal intercourse, including ejaculation inside LH.

15. Your offending was regular and frequent and continued up until a few days before your arrest. The only reason the offending came to an end appears to be because you were arrested

16. After a period of time, you began telling LH that you loved her, both in person and in text messages. Various acts of sexual intercourse between you and LH occurred inside a caravan on your property, inside the home while TX’s mother was at work, inside a storeroom and a few times in your vehicle.

17. The last time you had sexual intercourse with LH was a day or two after TX’s mother found out about the allegations in relation to TX. It is not entirely clear from the agreed facts and the other material tendered on sentence whether, on the occasion of the last offence against LH, you were in fact aware that TX had already reported the allegations in respect of your acts against her. Accordingly, contrary to the submissions made by the prosecutor, I cannot sentence you on the basis that you were aware of that report and continued to offend against LH notwithstanding.

Plea of guilty

18. You pleaded guilty to these charges on 31 October 2025 which was before the taking of any pre-trial evidence. In these circumstances I accept that there is a high utilitarian value in your plea of guilty.

19. I do not consider that s 35(4) of the Crimes (Sentencing) Act 2005 (ACT) provides a bar to giving that discount. Although the prosecution case was a strong one, I do not regard it as so overwhelming as to make an acquittal realistically unlikely. There may, of course, be matters involving sexual abuse of young children which could be said to be overwhelmingly strong cases, however this case is not one of them.

20. Accordingly, I will discount the sentences I impose by 20%. Consideration

21. I accept the prosecutor’s submission that your offending is objectively very serious, compounded as well by the fact that your offending was against two different young children over two separate periods of time.

22. In these circumstances, general deterrence, denunciation and punishment, and recognition of the harm you have caused are primary considerations in sentencing you.

23. I acknowledge the letter which you wrote to the court in which you explain past sexual abuse committed against you by family members during your childhood. I accept that your letter is an expression of remorse, guilt and shame for your offending against both LH and TX.

24. It is, however, too early to say with any real confidence what your actual prospects of rehabilitation are. You have only recently displayed any insight into your offending and I note that the writer of the pre-sentence report was generally cautious about your risk of re-offending, both generally and in respect of sexual offending. In his view, this was because of unaddressed substance abuse and your attitudes toward offending.

25. On the other hand, I accept that you have strong support from your mother which must be regarded as a protective factor and I take that into account.

26. I do accept that what you have said in the pre-sentence report to the pre-sentence report author is true and that you have been diagnosed with depression. I accept that the circumstances you described in your letter and to the author of the pre-sentence report necessarily enlivens all of the Bugmy principles. However, your offending is egregious and prolonged. There is a need to recognise that the harm done to the victims will affect them for the rest of their lives.

27. It is, however, a matter which I take into account when I am assessing the need for general and specific deterrence and I acknowledge that there can be some amelioration of that need by virtue of your particular circumstances.

28. Four victim impact statements were tendered from TX, LH, from LH’s mother and stepfather. These statements attest eloquently to the profound and irreparable damage your offending has caused both to the two young victims and their respective families. To use LH’s stepfather’s own words, the consequences of your actions do not end today. They do not end for either of the victims and they do not end for their families.

29. The sentence for your first offence will commence on 19 December 2024, being the date when you were taken into custody. In order to avoid imposing a sentence which is too crushing and which takes into account the principle of totality, I intend to partially accumulate the term of imprisonment for the second offence with that of the first offence.

Orders

30. The orders of the Court are: (1) In respect of the first charge (CAN 355/2025), you are sentenced to a period of 12 years’ imprisonment reduced by 20% to nine years, seven months and six days, commencing on 19 December 2024 and expiring on 24 July 2034. (2) In respect of the second charge (CAN 363/2025), you are sentenced to a period of 13 years’ imprisonment reduced by 20% to 10 years, four months and 24 days, commencing on 25 July 2027 and expiring on 18 December 2037. (3) The total period of imprisonment you are required to serve is 13 years. (4) I set a non-parole period of seven years and nine months, which will expire on 18 September 2032.

I certify that the preceding thirty [30] numbered paragraphs are a true copy of the Reasons for Sentence of her Honour Acting Justice Kelly. Associate: Date: 7 May 2026