Consent or willing participation by a child victim is not a mitigating factor in sentencing for offences under s 66C of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW); the absence of consent as an aggravating feature does not mitigate seriousness. When assessing aggregate sentences, the principle of totality requires that the sentence reflect the totality of criminality and the purposes of sentencing while also making due allowance for favourable subjective matters, which should not lose their force or be diluted in the assessment of the aggregate sentence. It is not self-evident that cognitive impairment as a circumstance of aggravation under s 66C(5)(f) is necessarily less serious than other listed circumstances of aggravation.
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