Where an offender is sentenced for historical child sexual assault offences, the court must sentence in accordance with sentencing standards current at the time of offending, not current standards. Where there has been lengthy delay between offending and sentence and the offender has rehabilitated, the fact of imprisonment rather than the length of sentence is of greatest significance, and general deterrence is of less significance. A sentencing judge may take into account the age of a child victim within the range of ages specified in the offence as an aggravating factor without double counting. Victim Impact Statements must be limited to the impact of the offences charged, not the totality of uncharged offending.
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