In sentencing for child sexual assault offences, the absence of aggravating features such as force, threats, or victim cooperation cannot be treated as mitigating the objective gravity of the offence; such features, if present, would aggravate the offence, but their absence is the baseline, not a mitigating factor. Where virtually all charges are based solely on the offender's own admissions and the Crown would have had no case without them, a discount of 40% (rather than 27.5%) is appropriate to reflect the combination of early plea and indispensable assistance to authorities. Prior good character carries lesser weight in sentencing for child sexual offences where it provided the opportunity to offend.
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