The circumstances of the offence alone, regardless of the offender's lack of prior criminal history, may be so serious as to make punishment, denunciation and deterrence of prime importance over rehabilitation when sentencing a young offender. The absence of an explanation for offending conduct bears upon the assessment of rehabilitation prospects and may render such prospects speculative. Multiple discrete sexual offences against the same victim each call for a measure of individual cumulation to reflect the discrete nature of the violations.
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