A vow of celibacy or other self-imposed religious obligation cannot mitigate the seriousness of a child sexual procurement offence; a priest must be dealt with in the same manner as any other offender. The absence of an actual child victim in an online procurement offence under s 474.26(1) of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth) does not mitigate the offence, though the presence of an actual victim may aggravate it. General deterrence is a significant sentencing consideration for online procurement offences given their difficulty of detection. Section 68A of the Crimes (Appeal and Review) Act 2001 (NSW) abolishing double jeopardy on Crown appeals applies to Commonwealth offences.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 26 later cases that cite this judgment.
6 of the 26 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.