Where an offender pleads guilty to aggravated sexual assault and the evidence establishes the offender's knowledge of the victim's lack of consent, the sentencing judge must make express findings on consent and explain the basis for conclusions as to objective seriousness. The simultaneous commission of multiple sexual assaults by co-offenders upon a single victim increases, rather than decreases, the objective seriousness of each offence. The need to serve time in protective custody cannot found a finding of special circumstances where it is already comprehended in a discount for assistance under s 23 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW).
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