A sentence of 12 years' imprisonment for each of three counts of rape is not manifestly excessive where the offending involves a step-father raping a teenage step-daughter over many months in the family home, using force, threats, and blackmail, in circumstances constituting domestic violence offences, with no remorse or mitigating features. Psychological harm from prolonged domestic sexual offending should not be treated as less significant than physical harm from a single violent rape for sentencing comparison purposes. The 2016 amendments to s 9 of the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (Qld) have increased the prominence of objective circumstances and community ramifications in the sentencing synthesis for violent and domestic violence offences.
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