The vulnerability of a child victim may be taken into account as an aggravating factor under s 21A(2)(l) even where age is an element of the offence, provided the vulnerability relied upon goes beyond the mere fact of being within the statutory age range — for example, being at the lower end of the age range. Abuse of trust and abuse of authority remain distinct concepts for the purposes of the De Simoni principle; where the factual basis of the trust relied upon differs from the authority that constitutes the element of the aggravated offence, taking trust into account does not contravene De Simoni. A uniform discount for guilty pleas across multiple offences is permissible where all pleas were entered at the same time and the evidence of plea negotiations for individual offences is imprecise.
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