Tasmanian child rapist cops 40 years in jail for abusing relative
The “horrifying omnitude” of a Hobart man’s abuse of an underage male relative represented the worst example of child-sex offending in Tasmanian history, a Supreme Court judge has said.
The “horrifying omnitude” of an HIV-positive Hobart man’s abuse of an underage male relative represented the worst example of child-sex offending in Tasmanian criminal history, a Supreme Court judge has said, before sentencing the offender to a term of 40 years’ imprisonment.
The 38-year-old perpetrator, whose identity is legally suppressed, appeared in court on Friday to learn his fate after pleading guilty to more than 80 sexual offences including rape and indecent assault, committed at locations across the state between 2018 and 2023.
Justice Stephen Estcourt said had he sentenced the defendant individually for his crimes, the cumulative tariff would have exceeded 220 years.
While the victim ultimately tested negative for HIV after his years-long abuse, he continued to suffer symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, with a treating psychologist reporting he would never know the person that he would have otherwise become.
“This has been stolen from him,” Justice Estcourt said the psychologist had noted.
“It is hard to comprehend how anyone can have regard to what has happened to them, when they don’t know and can never know who they would have been if this had not occurred.”
The court heard the offender’s personal background was characterised by emotional abuse and neglect, and one which included a diagnosis of HIV at the age of 20.
Justice Estcourt said he had included the Crown facts presented during the case “virtually in their entirety” within his published sentencing remarks as a permanent record of the offender’s depraved conduct.
“I have done so because those facts must be indelibly apparent, in their horrifying omnitude, on the court’s sentencing database, so that they can be recognised in future years as marking, what in my experience is the worst case of child sexual abuse this court has seen to date,” His Honour said.
Justice Estcourt said while the individual penalties he would have handed down for man’s crimes tallied 223.5 years’ imprisonment, Tasmanian courts were bound by the principles of totality and proportionality when handing down aggregate sentences.
“As to totality I must reflect on the aggregate sentence to ensure that it is proportionate to the defendant’s overall criminality, and that he is not subjected to a crushing sentence,” he said.
“The application of these principles must be balanced against the gravity of the overall offending.”
Justice Estcourt ordered the offender to serve at least 20 years in prison before being eligible for parole, and directed his name be placed on the state sex offenders’ register for life.
The man’s sentence was backdated to the date he was taken into custody on 27 July, 2023.
