Where a child near the age of consent is a willing participant in sexual intercourse and the offender honestly believed the child was of age, the offending falls at the lower end of seriousness for s 321(2) offences, but a very substantial age disparity and the child's special vulnerability (indigence, homelessness, drug abuse) remain significant aggravating factors requiring some reliable confirmation of age beyond the child's assertion. Where individual sentences forming part of a total effective sentence are found to be manifestly excessive, the entire sentencing discretion must be re-exercised.
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