R v Bako
[2024] NSWDC 630
At a glance
Source factsCourt
District Court of NSW
Decision date
2024-08-23
Catchwords
- CRIME - Sentencing - 20 counts of sexual offending by tennis coach against 3 victims - IT, aged 15-17
- VM, aged 12-13
Source
Original judgment source is linked above.
Catchwords
Judgment (21 paragraphs)
JUDGMENT
- HIS HONOUR: The matter of John Bako.
- Mr Bako appears for sentence after trial, the trial having commenced on 26 February 2024 and having completed with verdicts on 22 March 2024. The indictment contained 23 counts. Counts 1, 3, 4 and 6 were all in relation to IT and contrary to s 61L of the Crimes Act 1900, being offences of assault with an act of indecency. The maximum penalty provided for those offences is five years in each case, and there is no standard non-parole period. There are a further two offences in relation to IT, Counts 2 and 5, being offences contrary to s 61N(2) of the Crimes Act in respect of which the maximum penalty provided is 18 months, and there is no relevant standard non-parole period.
- There are nine offences pursuant to s 61M(2) of the Crimes Act concerning VM, being Counts 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18. Each of those offences carries a maximum penalty of 10 years and has a relevant standard non-parole period of eight years. Also, in relation to VM there were a further four offences, Counts 11, 12, 13 and 19, contrary to s 61O(1) of the Crimes Act, in respect of which the maximum penalty is five years.
- In addition, there was a count in respect of DZ contrary to s 66EA(1) of the Crimes Act, being Count 20 on the indictment, an offence of adult maintaining an unlawful relationship with a child. The particulars for that offence were effectively in relation to three offences contained as alternative counts on the indictment. Those are Counts 21, 22 and 23. Count 21 and Count 23 were offences contrary to s 61M(1) being acts of indecency in circumstances of aggravation, that is, the victim being under 16 years of age at the time, and Count 22, also being an aggravated act of indecency, the aggravation being that the victim was under the accused's authority. As the jury convicted him of Counts 1 to 20 on the indictment, they did not need to turn to the alternatives to Count 20. The maximum penalty for an offence contrary to s 66EA(1) is life imprisonment, and there is no relevant standard non‑parole period.