‘Manifestly inadequate’: How a victim’s courage was turned into a rapist’s discounted sentence

2 hours ago 3

Attorney-General Deb Frecklington has lodged an appeal in a horrific historical sexual abuse case in Queensland after a convicted rapist walked free on a suspended sentence despite pleading guilty to abusing a child over many years.

After enquiries were made by Brisbane Times, Frecklington confirmed the Director of Public Prosecutions would now consider taking the case to the Court of Appeal, saying the sentence, handed down in the Ipswich District Court last month, was “manifestly inadequate”.

The offender, now 43, pleaded guilty last month to one count of rape, and seven counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16. The offences were committed against his younger sister in the 1990s and early 2000s.

The offender walked free from Ipswich District Court on a suspended sentence last month.

The victim-survivor, the man’s younger sister, has spoken out for the first time, calling for change to the justice system. Victoria, whose name has been changed for legal reasons, said after the sentencing, she was left devastated, betrayed by the courts and feeling like she had been left to fend for herself.

The man’s name cannot be revealed because some of the assaults occurred when he was a minor.

Victoria’s family said they felt the harm she suffered was minimised when the judge made comments about the teenager’s “raging hormones” and suggested he could have instead retreated to his room with a Playboy magazine.

Victoria came forward to police in 2021, more than 20 years after the abuse began. Speaking to this masthead, she recalled her childhood being marred by the unimaginable abuse from her older brother.

The abuse began when she was a young girl, and continued for many years. But it remained a secret until she was 12, when she felt compelled to confide in her sister and cousin before the rapist returned to stay at the family home.

“The things I did [during the abuse] are no different to having to do the dishes and then go back to playing with Barbies – that’s literally just how I operated,” Victoria recalled.

As she grew older, like many victims of child abuse, Victoria agonised over what more she could have done to protect herself. For the offences her attacker pleaded guilty to, she was eight years old at her youngest. He was in his early 20s at his oldest.

“So it took me a long time to realise. For a long time I couldn’t understand why I just was left with him,” she said.

“I couldn’t understand, as I got older, I was like, ‘Why? Why didn’t I stop this?’”

Victoria said the details of the abuse were scored into her memory. “They were not good, but I didn’t understand why they were scored into my memory, and I didn’t understand why I couldn’t say no,” she said.

“That’s why I just never told anyone. I just held on to it because I thought, well, maybe it’s my fault.”

That sense of hopelessness was replaced with a surge of strength after she committed to seeking justice through the courts.

After four years of preparing for a pending trial, holding on to the horrific memories, the perpetrator pleaded guilty.

‘My sister was a child when the offending began and had to wait until she was strong enough ... Her courage in coming forward was turned into a discount for her abuser.’

The family’s letter to the Attorney-General

But during sentencing, which the family said was a highly re-traumatising event, Victoria said the judge took “exceptional circumstances” into account. She said the justice system’s use of those circumstances for adults needed to change.

“Nothing ever gives anyone the excuse to rape or sexually abuse a child,” she said.

She said judges needed better examples of when exceptional circumstances applied to provide consistency in the courts. She recalled the judge saying to her rapist that he had kept doing this, as she said no and cried.

Queensland Attorney-General Deb Frecklington has advised the sentence should be appealed.

She said the judge relied on the fact that he had accessed counselling while on bail, their difficult home life in childhood, an apology letter, and hardship to his wife’s business if he were to spend time in custody.

“It seems like the judge was worried about doing the wrong thing for exceptional circumstances, because he kept talking about how you can’t shield behind your family ... but then ruled exceptional circumstances anyway,” she said.

The offender’s guilty plea was considered to be timely by the courts and showed remorse, she said.

“I get so enraged ... four years is so bad. I was like, I could just fall over right now. That was horrible,” she said.

“That’s one of the biggest things in the Sentencing Act – you’ve got to think about deterring acts like this, but getting to go home to your family and work is not a deterrent, getting to enjoy your life is not a deterrent.

“There are just these really evil people walking around us, going about their life like they never did anything bad, and we just have to exist next to them?”

She said after the sentence was handed down, the judge vacated the courtroom, and she was left to fend for herself, haunted by the fact her perpetrator no longer had bail conditions in place to stop him contacting her.

Victoria then had to apply for a temporary protection order in the days after the sentence – something she said victims should not have to do. She said judges should put protections in place immediately after a sentence.

The appeal by the attorney-general is the latest in a series of interventions from Frecklington to secure tougher sentences for perpetrators of heinous crimes.

Frecklington was most recently successful in securing an increased sentence for a teenager who stabbed army veteran Chris Sanders in the chest. She has also lodged appeals against William Clyde Evans, who was convicted of eight child-related sexual offences, and Floyd Norman Daniel for domestic violence related assault occasioning bodily harm.

Frecklington also instructed an application to be lodged with the High Court of Australia to appeal a judgment handed down in the case of Emma Lovell’s killer.

Victoria’s family wrote to the attorney-general last week out of disgust with the sentencing judge’s treatment of “exceptional factors”, such as the offender seeking counselling, their difficult home life in childhood, and remorse demonstrated by a guilty plea.

“My brother’s defence also presented psychological reports indicating ‘cognitive distortions’ that would have caused my brother to believe my sister might ‘enjoy’ the offending,” Victoria’s sister wrote. “These are not unusual features.

“The nearly 20-year delay in reporting was also treated as exceptional. With respect, this misstates what we know about child sexual abuse. The Court of Appeal has recognised that delay is common, not exceptional, in these cases.

“My sister was a child when the offending began and had to wait until she was strong enough to withstand the trauma involved in a criminal legal process. Her courage in coming forward was turned into a discount for her abuser.

“In his sentencing remarks, the judge also described my brother’s behaviour as the result of ‘raging hormones’ that could have been worked out on a Playboy magazine. This comparison trivialises what happened to my sister. It treats serious sexual crimes against a child as though they were a normal outlet for a teenage boy, when in fact the most serious offences occurred when he was in his early 20s.

“For my sister, hearing her abuse described in those terms added humiliation to an already painful process. For the broader community, it risks giving the impression that such crimes are being minimised rather than condemned.”

After advising of an appeal, Frecklington noted the offending occurred over several years, describing the sentence as “manifestly inadequate”.

“My thoughts are with the victim and her family during this difficult time,” the attorney-general said in a statement to Brisbane Times.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.