The absence of violence or threats in sexual offences against very young children is of minimal relevance to objective seriousness because the perpetrator need only leverage the power arising from relative size, weight, verbal acuity and maturity. A finding of mid-range objective seriousness was upheld for digital penetration offences against children aged 4 and 6-7 where there was abuse of trust, non-isolated offending, and continuation of assaults despite the victim's protests. There remains an unresolved debate as to whether digital penetration is inherently less serious than other forms of sexual intercourse.
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