The Supreme Court held that the magistrate erred in finding the respondent did not pose a risk of committing a reportable offence in the future, given the grooming conduct, abuse of authority, denial of the offence, lack of remorse, and offending while on bail; no reasonable magistrate could have reached that conclusion, and a reporting order under s 6 of the Community Protection (Offender Reporting) Act 2005 was required. The Court found the sentence of a $2,500 fine with conviction recorded for indecent assault was not manifestly inadequate, being within the acceptable ambit of the magistrate's sentencing discretion given the lower-end physical contact and the respondent's lack of prior convictions. The Court also held that the magistrate's sentencing reasons were adequate, reaffirming that in summary matters the sentencing officer need only make clear the factual basis and briefly refer to relevant considerations, with the balance being a matter of instinctive synthesis.
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