A sentencing judge who is not inclined to give full effect to an unchallenged expert opinion must disclose that reservation to defence counsel and afford the opportunity to correct or contradict the potential adverse finding, unless the risk of such a finding necessarily inheres in the issues to be decided. General deterrence remains the paramount consideration in sentencing for child pornography offences, and a sentence of imprisonment is ordinarily warranted even where the objective gravity is at the lower end of the scale.
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