Post-Dalgliesh sentencing for incest involving a child requires sentences significantly above the pre-Dalgliesh range of around 3.5 to 4 years, even where there are substantial mitigating factors including voluntary disclosure and the offender's own childhood sexual abuse. A sentence of 6 years on a representative charge of incest involving penile-vaginal penetration of a child aged 11-13 over approximately two years was appropriate in this case. An offender's voluntary disclosure to police of offending, at a time when it was uncertain whether the victim would report, warrants a sentencing discount beyond the guilty plea discount, but the discount is moderated where the disclosure was misleadingly incomplete. The connection between an offender's own childhood sexual abuse and their offending is a matter deserving only moderate weight in mitigation where the offender knew the conduct was wrong. The question whether manifest inadequacy alone suffices to warrant a Director's appeal under s 287 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 (Vic) remains open.
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