A starting point of approximately 12 years 4 months for a s 66EA offence involving five ingredient offences (including digital penetration of a child under 10) over a period of seven days was held to be manifestly excessive by the majority, with the appropriate starting point being approximately 8 years. Comparable cases decided under the superseded 25-year maximum penalty are of limited but not negligible value. The majority accepted that intellectual unsophistication falling short of diagnosed intellectual disability may warrant tempering general deterrence where it has a similar consequence to intellectual disability, though the dissent held the De La Rosa principles require a causal connection between the mental condition and the offending.
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