Child pornography offences involving only written stories (not depicting real children) are to be treated as less serious than offences involving images or videos of real children. Voluntary disclosure of child pornography offending to authorities warrants a sentencing discount additional to that for a guilty plea, though the value of the disclosure may be diminished by subsequent conduct such as fleeing the jurisdiction or continuing to offend. When sentencing for federal child pornography offences, the court must have regard to the federal maximum penalty and cannot substitute the lower State maximum for comparable offences. The total effective sentence of 3 years (2 years minimum) was appropriate for an offender with no prior criminal record who possessed approximately 6,800 images/videos and 40 written stories across three charges.
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