The passage of approximately 16 years between commission of child sexual assault offences and sentence is capable of constituting special circumstances warranting alteration of the statutory ratio between non-parole period and head sentence. The loss of an opportunity to enter a pre-trial diversionary program due to failure to charge cannot found a claim for leniency where the submission elevates speculation to the level of probability and the offender could have presented himself to police. Where a complainant and family members decline to make a statement despite early intervention by welfare authorities, mere knowledge of allegations by police cannot found a justifiable inference of deliberate prosecutorial inaction.
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