An offender's bail status at the time of offending is relevant to the determination of appropriate punishment but does not bear on the objective seriousness of the offence. A finding of breach of trust in child sexual offence cases requires evidence that the offender had been given or undertaken responsibility for the child; the mere fact that the offender was a friend of the child's parent, where the parent was present (albeit asleep), is insufficient. Sentencing statistics, while of limited usefulness given the wide variety of circumstances, serve as a yardstick against which to assess whether sentences are manifestly excessive.
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