DPP v Robson [2025] VCC 1574

1. The Crown tendered the summary of prosecution opening as Exhibit A. A summary of your offending is as follows:
2. On 19 March 2014, you were convicted of four charges of committing an indecent act with a child under the age of 16. By operation of law, you were registered as a sex offender under the Sex Offender Registration Act, registered for life. I am satisfied that you acknowledged and were aware of the myriad of reporting obligations attaching to that registration.
3. Between 16 November 2024 and 8 April 2025, you failed to comply with the reporting obligations by failing to report the creation of 14 online usernames that were attached to various platforms, with names such as 'Daddy Hunt', 'Scruff', 'Sniffies', and 'adult friend finder'. Other usernames were created to attach to more generic platforms such as Google (Charge 1).
4. Between 16 January 2025 and 14 April 2025, you:

a) transmitted 16 child abuse material files - 13 to Daniel and three to Dylan; > > b) solicited child abuse material videos in January 2025; and > > c) caused one file of child abuse material to be transmitted to you in April 2025.

5. In addition, you engaged in sexually explicit conversations with Daniel.
6. The 13 files you sent to Daniel included five video files of category one child abuse material depicting boys between the ages of approximately six and 10 or 11 years of age engaged in acts with other children and, in some instances, with adults.
7. The three images you sent to Dylan were sexually explicit images of young boys aged between approximately seven and 10 engaged in sexually explicit activities.
8. The file transmitted to you depicts a boy of approximately seven years of age being touched in a sexually explicit manner by another person who remains largely off-camera (Charge 2).
9. On 30 April 2025, police executed a search warrant and served an order requiring you to provide access to electronic devices. You told police that you lived on your own, you identified a mobile phone as yours, and you provided PIN code access to the phone and a protected folder on it.
10. A review of your phone disclosed 126 files of child abuse material, 124 files were videos, and two files were images.
11. According to the Interpol baseline categorisation scale, 106 files (all of which were videos) were classified as category one material - that is, a real prepubescent child either involved in or witnessing sexual activity, or focusing on the child's anal or genital region.
12. Some of the files found in your possession depicted female children as young as approximately five years of age being forcefully sexually penetrated by an adult male. Other category one child abuse material depicts male and female children aged up to early adolescence engaged in sexual activity.
13. In total, the video files in your possession run for approximately six hours.
14. Two of the three images transmitted to Dylan were found in your possession on 30 April 2025.
15. You were arrested and interviewed by police. Apart from the admissions that I have already referred to, that is, that you lived alone, you identified the phone as yours, and you provided police with access to the phone and the secured folder, you made no comment when matters were put to you by way of record of interview.
16. You were remanded in custody, and as I have said, you have now served 182 days by way of presentence detention, excluding today. I will reckon that period as already served.
17. You pleaded guilty at the committal mention. I recognise your plea was made at the earliest opportunity. It is to your credit that these matters come on for hearing and sentence six months to the day after your arrest.

1. I now turn to a consideration of the objective gravity of your offending and an assessment of your moral culpability.
2. The objective gravity of this offending may first be measured by the maximum penalty set for Charges 2 & 3, which, as I have said, is 15 years.
3. Moreover, Charge 2 is a rolled-up charge. This charge contains a collection of identifiable charges bundled together in a single charge rather than through numerous separate charges.
4. When sentencing on a rolled-up charge, the court must consider all of the circumstances of the offence and the offender, including whether the offending was carried out over an extended period, whether it victimised multiple persons, and the totality of harm described in the charge. While the court may consider all of the relevant circumstances of a rolled-up charge, the plea of guilty must still be treated as entered to a single formal charge. The maximum penalty is therefore limited to the maximum for a single charge.
5. Next, the Commonwealth Crimes Act provides that I must impose a sentence of at least four years on each of Charges 2 and 3 because you have previously been convicted of child sex abuse offences in March 2014.
6. I may, however, impose a sentence of less than four years if I consider it is appropriate to reduce the sentence because of your plea of guilty. The sentence may also be reduced where a person has cooperated with law enforcement agencies in the investigation of the offence. The submission that you had cooperated fell away somewhat when it became apparent on the material that you only provided your PIN code under the compulsion of the s3LA Crimes Act order.
7. I shall return to the question of your plea of guilty in my analysis.
8. I return now to the objective gravity of your offending. I consider it is largely informed by the depravity of the material transmitted and possessed. The video files you held and transmitted were vile and repulsive.
9. It is considered depraved because it amounts to the callous exploitation of children, often very young children, well before they are free to make individual sexual choices. It is apparent from the descriptions that, in some instances, children were raped or otherwise painfully abused by adults using force and aggression. The physical and mental harm done to these children is incalculable.
10. In all instances, the acts were recorded and transmitted to satiate the lascivious desires of men who trawl through the gutters of the internet looking for this sort of filth. Make no mistake, Mr Robson, you were one of those men.
11. You are guilty of the secondary exploitation of these children by fuelling the market for the exchange and perpetuation of these images online.
12. Of course, the internet makes the detection of this material and these crimes all the more difficult.
13. I have regard to the period of time over which Charges 1 and 2 were committed.
14. Nevertheless, I take into account:
    1. the relative lack of sophistication of storage on your phone - there was, for example, no encryption used;
    2. your usernames in Charge 1 were deflecting of your identity, but were indeed unsophisticated;
    3. although you engaged in lascivious conversations (which were not charged) and transmitted files, you did not do so for monetary gain;
    4. your exploitation of children was indirect (as I have explained) and not direct;
    5. the number of files you transmitted (16; 13 videos and three images) and received (1) was at the lowest end of seriousness for the number of files usually held by offenders appearing in this Court; and
    6. Charge 3 is charged as a single day of possession, and, relative to the number of files found in many cases this court deals with, your possession was very small in number.
15. For all I have said about the objective gravity of your offending, it is indeed serious. However, I must keep some perspective on where it sits in relation to the experience of the Courts for these crimes.
16. Your moral culpability for your offending is high. You were already on SORA reporting conditions, and had been for years, and you had previously been placed on a CCO for child sex offending. Whilst I accept Mr MacKinnon's opinion that your judgment was compromised by your drug use, that is not a matter that can mitigate your sentence. Further, given the period of time over which Charges 1 and 2 were committed, and the variety of offending in Charge 2, you had plenty of opportunity to reflect on your culpability.
17. Principles of general and specific deterrence, denunciation & protection of the community, especially protecting children from exploitation, must dominate the sentencing objectives.

1. You are now 57 years old, having been born in August 1968.

1. You were adopted shortly after birth and have two adoptive siblings, with whom you have little contact.
2. When you were around eight or nine years of age, you were sexually assaulted by your neighbour, who was about five or six years older than you.
3. At 11, your adoptive uncle shot himself.
4. At age 14, your adoptive parents separated, and you commenced living with your mother. You and your mother were both subject to your adoptive father's violence, threats and deteriorating mental health, until your father committed suicide when you were 17 years old.
5. Your biological mother contacted you when you were 21, and you now maintain occasional contact with each other.
6. You identify as gay and report having had a few relationships over your lifetime.
7. The 2014 conviction related to a 12-year-old boy with whom you had some contact. Your offending was confined to indecent acts and not to penetration offences.

1. You report having received good grades in high school; however, these deteriorated following your parents' separation.
2. You report being isolated and bullied at school due to your sexuality, even though you were not openly gay at the time.
3. Since leaving school, your work history has been both irregular and varied, although you have most often worked with horses until your chronic depression caused you to cease work.
4. Since 2014, you have received a Disability Support Pension for your health issues.

1. In your mid-30s, you suffered a burst appendix and a collapsed lung. You have had multiple concussive episodes over the course of your working life with horses.
2. You are currently prescribed medication for high blood pressure, gastric reflux and high cholesterol.
3. You have suffered depression and have infrequently attended psychologists and counsellors due to your mental health struggles at various times.

1. You report having tried alcohol first at 15 or 16, but you did not like it, and you have never been much of a drinker.
2. During your mid-teens, you used cannabis, MDMA and LSD, and commenced amphetamine use when you were 17 years old.
3. By age 18, you were injecting illicit substances, and by 21, you were injecting heroin and developed an addiction. Your heroin use contributed to the collapse of your veins.
4. Through treatment with Suboxone, you have been able to cease opioid use, and you have not relapsed.
5. By the end of 2023, you were morbidly obese and reported not having had sex or used drugs for around four years.
6. You commenced using Ozempic and rapidly lost 35 kilos, then started joining dating apps and using methylamphetamines and GHB.
7. You report the drugs having led to an increased libido and increased sexual activity and contributed to your consumption of pornography while you were under the influence of those drugs.
8. In late 2024, you overdosed on GHB, and you were hospitalised. By early 2025, you were habitually smoking and injecting methylamphetamine and consuming GHB. You report using these drugs every few days in a cycle of drug binges and withdrawals.

1. Since you were remanded to Hopkins, you have been attending the 'Gay Group', you have been exercising, and you are awaiting the ability to commence prison programs that you have applied for.
2. You report having had a strained relationship with your adoptive mother since being remanded, and you have had little contact with other family members in this period.
3. Nevertheless, on your release from prison, you intend to live with either your biological or adoptive mother. I note that your adoptive mother is presently 82 and is currently struggling with health difficulties.

1. You were assessed by Ian MacKinnon, forensic psychologist. Mr MacKinnon concluded that you do not suffer from personality disorders or cognitive impairment, and you were not diagnosed as suffering paedophilic disorder.
2. Rather, he considers that you have experienced some level of erotic attraction to underage males and that you have acted upon this attraction on occasions.
3. He believes that on the last occasion, that is, your indulgence in child abuse material, your judgment had become compromised due to your sustained drug use.
4. Mr MacKinnon considers that you have the ability to 'constrain' yourself, so long as your judgment and impulsivity are not affected by a relapse into drug use.
5. Mr MacKinnon states that if you relapse into illicit substance use, you pose an elevated risk of acting on inappropriate psychosexual impulses and thereby reoffending.
6. He states that since being remanded, you have largely overcome your substance use disorder, but you remain vulnerable to a relapse in response to significant new life stressors once released from prison.
7. He opines that in the post-release context, you will likely pose a moderate level of risk of further offending of a sexual nature. This risk is likely to be mitigated if you complete a further sex offender program in prison, and permanently avoid illicit drug use, and construct a life for yourself that does not leave you socially isolated.

1. Mr Desmond, who appeared on your behalf, submitted that the following factors should operate to mitigate your sentence:

a) Your plea of guilty at the earliest opportunity should be recognised as having utilitarian benefit, and facilitating the course of justice, and should be taken to demonstrate remorse (which I note was disputed); > > b) There is an overlap between Charges 2 and 3, such that there should be a considerable degree of concurrency; > > c) You have reasonable prospects of rehabilitation, particularly as you do not have any mental illness that enlivens the Verdins principles; > > d) You cooperated (to an extent) with police, alongside your early plea of guilty. Together, these should entitle you to a discount on the statutory minimum penalty.

2. Ms Hill, who appeared for the Commonwealth Director, submitted that a 'straight sentence' was appropriate for Charge 1; however, the appropriate sentence for Charges 2 and 3 was a term of imprisonment with a head sentence and a non-parole period. Further, Ms Hill submitted that I should impose a sentence in accordance with s16AAB, and that I should not reduce the statutory sentence below four years to take account of the plea of guilty.

1. I conclude the plea of guilty in this case has utilitarian benefit, and that it facilitates the course of justice. I am prepared to find that the plea in this case is attended by some remorse, as expressed to Mr MacKinnon, although it is also true to say that the case against you was strong, if not overwhelming. Nevertheless, as the Court of Appeal has recognised, remorse may be present and can influence the decision to plead guilty, even where the case is overwhelming.
2. I am concerned about your level of insight into your offending. The creation of so many usernames across a number of internet platforms over a considerable period of time, and the transmission, soliciting, receiving and possession of such egregious material, indicates that you have not learned from your previous conviction, your previous sex offender treatment program, or your lifelong reporting conditions. You will be required to undertake a further sex offender treatment program in prison. Given that you have no disorders or impairment, I consider that your prospects for rehabilitation are dependent on gaining insight through that sex offender program and supervision in the community on parole, and remaining drug-free.
3. In the end, I consider that it is appropriate to reduce your sentence for your plea of guilty. I have spoken about the value of the plea earlier in these remarks.
4. I consider the overlap between Charges 2 and 3 (the material the subject of the offending overlapped for all but one file) calls for substantial concurrency. In any event, I have tried to structure a sentence to achieve the overall sentence appropriate to the severity of the offending, taking into account the statutory starting point, and the mitigating factors (so far as I am able), and the factors I am required to take into account under s16A of the Commonwealth Crimes Act, in addition to s16AAB and s16AAC.

1. Accordingly, Mr Robson, the sentences that I impose individually are as follows:
2. On Charge 1, fail to comply with reporting conditions without reasonable excuse, you are convicted and sentenced to 20 months' imprisonment.
3. On Charge 2, use a carriage service to transmit, solicit, and cause material to be transmitted to you, you are convicted and sentenced to 44 months' imprisonment, which is to commence in two months' time.
4. On Charge 3, possess child abuse material, you are convicted and sentenced to 42 months' imprisonment. I order that sentence commence today.
5. The total effective sentence is therefore a sentence of 46 months' imprisonment. I order you serve a non-parole period of 28 months before you are eligible for parole.
6. I declare the period of 182 days, excluding today, pre-sentence detention, reckoned as already served.
7. By your conviction, you are to be registered as a sex offender for life, having previously been registered for life. I make that further order.
8. The 6AAA is that, but for the plea of guilty, all things being equal, I would have sentenced you to a period of five and a half years' imprisonment with a minimum of three and a half years to serve.
9. That is the sentence, Ms Hill. Do you see any problems with the sentence or structure as I have imposed it?
10. MS HILL: Your Honour, I would just like to seek clarification for Charge 1, the 20 months, is that to commence today as well?
11. HIS HONOUR: Well, it's a State sentence, so it has to commence today.
12. MS HILL: Thank you, Your Honour. Then no other query.
13. HIS HONOUR: All right, so let's just go through it, so it's clear.
14. So State sentence, presumption that it starts today. Charge 2, 44 months, starts in two months' time. Charge 3, 42 months, starts today. So the 42 months of Charge 3 are subsumed in the sentence of Charge 2, Charge 2 being 44 months, starts in two months' time, so it makes a sentence of 46 months. 28 months non-parole period.
15. MS HILL: Thank you, Your Honour. No further queries from my perspective.
16. HIS HONOUR: Thank you. Any queries from your perspective, Mr Desmond.
17. MR DESMOND: Just to get it clear in my own head, Your Honour.
18. HIS HONOUR: Yes.
19. MR DESMOND: Does Your Honour not have to say the word 'concurrent'?
20. HIS HONOUR: No. So I can say it if you like, on Charge 1. So Charge 1, 20 months concurrent, but it starts today in any event.
21. Charge 2, 44 months, starts in two months' time, so that makes it 46 months.
22. Charge 3, 42 months, starts today, so it starts, and so it gets swallowed up in Charge 2.
23. MR DESMOND: Yes, understood.
24. HIS HONOUR: 28 months, 182 days, so just over six months of the non-parole period reckoned as already served.
25. MR DESMOND: Yes, thank you, Your Honour, that clarifies it for me.
26. HIS HONOUR: Thanks. Mr Desmond, I can make the offer, if it is of any benefit to you, I can leave you on the link so that you can speak to Mr Robson. I will take Ms Hill and I out. Of course, one of my associates has to stay online.

So whether you want to do that or not, it is a matter for you. 27. MR DESMOND: Yes, I would thank you, Your Honour, and I see my instructor is also online, if he could be allowed to remain? 28. HIS HONOUR: Indeed. All right, well, can I thank you both for what was a really tightly presented plea. I think I said that at the time of the submissions, but I am always very grateful when I receive submissions of that quality presented in such a tight way. 29. MR DESMOND: Thank you, Your Honour. 30. MS HILL: Thank you, Your Honour. 31. HIS HONOUR: Thank you. All right, well, I will adjourn, and I will take you out, Ms Hill ‑ ‑ ‑ 32. MS HILL: Yes. 33. HIS HONOUR: ‑ ‑ ‑ so that we can leave Mr Desmond and his instructor, but thanks again for your assistance. 34. MS HILL: May it please the court. 35. MR DESMOND: Your Honour pleases.