For Commonwealth child pornography and child abuse material offences involving images at the most serious end of the scale, a wholly suspended sentence is manifestly inadequate. General deterrence is a paramount consideration for these offences, and limited weight should be given to prior good character where the offence is frequently committed by persons of good character. An appropriate total effective sentence for the most serious category of offending, even with a guilty plea and no prior convictions, is in the range of 5-6 years at first instance.
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