At EAS Legal, we recently represented a 28-year-old client before the Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court who was facing serious child sex offence charges.
These matters are among the most complex and serious offences dealt with by the courts and frequently result in lengthy terms of imprisonment, particularly where an offender has a prior history.
In this case, our client had previously been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for similar offending several years earlier. As a result, he was facing an extremely high risk of immediate custody and a substantially harsher sentence.
From the outset, our strategy focused on presenting a robust and evidence-based rehabilitation pathway, rather than allowing the matter to default to a punitive custodial outcome.
Our work included:
● A detailed forensic review of the prosecution case
● Careful preparation of expert psychological and treatment material
● Submissions emphasising rehabilitation, risk management, and community safety
● Persuasive advocacy demonstrating that a treatment-based response would better serve the purposes of sentencing than imprisonment We worked closely with the prosecution and the Court to ensure the sentencing framework appropriately reflected both the seriousness of the offending and theclient’s rehabilitation prospects. Despite the seriousness of the charges and the client’s prior history of imprisonment, the Court was persuaded to impose:
● A treatment-based Community Corrections Order
● No term of imprisonment imposed
This was an exceptional outcome, particularly given that the sentence imposed for the later offending was significantly less severe than the sentence imposed for the earlier matter, where the client had been imprisoned for two years.
At EAS Legal, we regularly act in high-stakes criminal matters, including serious sexual offence cases. We understand the importance of careful, ethical, and strategic representation in matters where the consequences are life-altering.
Call us on 1800 117 533
www.easlegal.com.au
