Christopher Standen appeals after being sentenced on mistaken number of child abuse images accessed
A disgraced former TasTAFE teacher jailed for accessing thousands of child abuse images has been granted an appeal, after it was found a Hobart judge mistakenly sentenced him for accessing about four times the actual amount of photos.
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A disgraced former TasTAFE teacher jailed for accessing thousands of child abuse images has been granted an appeal, after it was found a Hobart judge mistakenly sentenced him for accessing four times the actual amount of photos than was correct.
Christopher John Standen, 36, was sentenced by Justice Gregory Geason to two years and eight months jail in August 2023.
Standen had pleaded guilty to Commonwealth offences of possessing or controlling child abuse material, obtained or accessed using a carriage service, and using a carriage service to access child abuse material.
He further pleaded guilty to a count of possessing child exploitation material.
However, he was set to walk after one year – released on a recognisance order for which he was ordered to attend treatment for offending.
In a recently published judgement, the Court of Criminal Appeal ordered that Standen’s original sentence be quashed, and that he be re-sentenced before a different judge – after he appealed on the ground that the sentence was manifestly excessive.
In their decision, Justice Pearce and Jago said it “became apparent” that the sentence on the Commonwealth charge had been imposed on the basis that Standen had accessed 22,492 child abuse material items – that being the number of images said to have been possessed.
But the number of child abuse material accessed was actually 5,325, the Justices said.
“His Honour may be excused for a mistake about the number of images accessed by the appellant because of the confusing nature of the facts put to him at the sentencing hearing,” the order read.
“It was not made at all clear that the accessing charge related to only 5,325 of the total number of images.”
It was determined that Standen be re-sentenced on the charges to be “conducted afresh”.
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