Where an offender who was sexually abused as a child commits sexual offences, the sentencing court is not required to find a direct causal relationship between the childhood abuse and the offending before taking it into account; the relevant inquiry is the consequences flowing from the earlier abuse and whether those consequences lessen moral culpability, but the weight to be given to this factor is subject to a wide discretion and may properly be given minor weight where the offending is very serious, sustained, and deliberate. Assistance to authorities under s 23 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 does not mandate a lesser penalty; the significance and usefulness of the assistance must be assessed, and assistance of limited significance in the context of the whole Crown case may properly be given no weight.
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