For s 66EA persistent sexual abuse offences, assessments of objective seriousness at or above mid-range require offending of a nature and gravity comparable to cases involving repeated sexual intercourse, not merely repeated sexual touching. The factors identified in Burr v R remain relevant to assessing objective seriousness under the amended s 66EA. There is a significant judicial division on whether comparative cases can establish that an assessment of objective seriousness was not open to the sentencing judge, with the dissent cautioning that the imprecise language of range does not provide a reliable basis for appellate intervention.
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