Delay as a mitigating factor in sentencing operates through considerations of rehabilitation and fairness in the sentencing synthesis, not by reducing the seriousness of the offence itself. Where an offender has rehabilitated during a lengthy delay and developed a reasonable expectation of not being charged, the punitive and deterrent aspects of sentencing should be tempered so as not to destroy the results of rehabilitation. Expert evidence establishing a nexus between childhood sexual abuse and offending is required before such abuse can be treated as reducing moral culpability. Disputed aggravating facts cannot be found beyond reasonable doubt without the Crown calling evidence.
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