When I moved to Brisbane to live with dad, Tony and I were still together and I found out from TW that Tony had been ringing her and trying to meet up with her and trying to have sex with her."
If I can just interpolate, I have already exposed the unreality that the girl was experiencing because he was already contacting TW eleven days before she left.
"I felt very betrayed and hurt, every night I cried myself to sleep. I had accused Tony of cheating on me but he had denied it. I stopped believing TW until I heard a voice recording of him talking to her."
And that may well explain the voice recording I earlier referred to. That night, that is the night she heard the voice recording, she had some alcohol and marijuana and cut her wrists.
"I still have the marks. I felt so betrayed by Tony, I trusted him. After that night I was doing pot every day and night. For weeks I couldn't concentrate at school and ended up dropping out."
The understatement, "I don't think it's right what Tony did to me. I hope he gets some help to stop from happening to any other young girls."
Subjective Matters
38. I turn now to the subjective matters. As I said at the outset I am both entitled and required to do that. Not only am I sentencing for the criminal offence but I am also sentencing this offender for it. Each offender coming before the court varies from other offenders who stand or who have stood for sentence. Circumstances personal to the offender may offer to the court some explanation and insight into the commission of these offences by this offender or some reason why a more or a less sentencing outcome is appropriate.
Background, family dynamics, relationship
39. The offender is a single man, childless, aged thirty-seven. Since October 2007 he has been in continuous custody. He is the elder of two boys, his father works as a printer in Newcastle, his mother a sale consultant at a local shopping centre. The relationship with his father is distant, but otherwise the family environment during his upbringing was stable. He was a "loner" during childhood both at school and likely at home. The offender is close to his mother, who is caring and supportive and he regards her as "awesome". The brother is also supportive. The offender was forced to leave home at eighteen when he was incarcerated for eight years; I will come to those circumstances shortly. There was a long term relationship between he and a mature lady between 2001 and 2005.
Training, Education and Skills
40. During his community based schooling he said he experienced severe bullying at school from the age of nine. Nonetheless he claims to have achieved a reasonable standard. He focused on studies and his life was books. His behavioural problems commenced during high school years. He was suspended in Year 10 for truancy. He did, however, obtain a school certificate although he was on "sick leave" during the last period so that he could sit the exams. He was advised not to continue after Year 10, not, I suspect, because of his intelligence but rather because of behavioural issues.
41. In custody he completed courses in anger management, stress management, landscaping, computers and hospitality. On release from custody in 1997 he enrolled in TAFE doing vocational courses and volunteered as the TAFE newspaper editor during 1998. The courses were not completed, although as I understand it he intends to resume them or some of them during his time in incarceration for these matters. He has held a number of unskilled positions but never for longer than six months, although I thought I saw a twelve month period somewhere in there.
42. Around the time of this incarceration he held two part time positions, that of bartending and working at a newsagency selling and delivering. He has been terminated from employment for occasions of drinking at work, rudeness and aggressiveness towards work colleagues.
General Health
43. He presents in court as somewhat overweight. He told Kate Seilder, a psychologist retained by the defence, he enjoyed good health. There is an absence of medical events, major illness or serious injury. There is nothing in his general health profile suggesting he should have any difficulties with rehabilitation.
Psychosexual History
44. Since childhood years the offender has had trouble connecting with others on an emotional or intimate level. He found his father difficult to communicate or connect with. He has used prostitutes for sexual gratification rather than seeking intimacy with a sexual partner. He has worked as security in the sex industry, which is more about sexual prowess than connection with others. There were other early signs his sexual development was not pursuing normal paths. At fourteen he was breaking into homes seeking out women's lingerie for masturbatory purposes. He would wear women's underwear for sexual gratification. He viewed pornography in substantial quantities, he was into voyeurism in his adolescent years, he used "glory holes" for anonymous oral sex from males, he was into casual sex and one night stands with women. He used prostitutes and sought impersonal sex with women.
45. He has experimented with bondage and sadomasochism. So much of his sexual history is about sexual climax without connection, commitment or communication. For him sex is not about social or personal connection, it is about the experience of the orgasm. At the time of his arrest he was often spending several hours daily accessing a range of pornography. This included; child pornography, bestiality, "snuff" movies, homosexual material, but particularly young adult women engaging in lesbian or heterosexual sex.
46. He claims a sexual interest in women over a wide range from older adults to post pubertal adolescents. Despite these charges and his past practices he claims not to endorse paedophilic sexual interests or homosexual attraction. Kate Seilder opined:
"Mr Barrie demonstrated a satisfactory understanding of consensual and sexual boundaries and he did not endorse attitudes consistent with sexual abuse. Mr Barrie also demonstrated some albeit limited?, understanding of victim impact, consistent with the fact that he has not engaged in offence specific treatment to date.