Sentencing Offenders Convicted of Child Pornography and Child Abuse Material Offences

• NCJ Number: 232083
• Author(s): Pierrette Mizzi; Tom Gotis; Patrizia Poletti
• Date Published: September 2010
• Length: 56 pages
• Sale Source: Judicial Cmssn of New South Wales
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Monograph
• Language: English
• Country: Australia

Annotation

This study examined the problem of sentencing offenders convicted of child pornography and material child abuse offenses in New South Wales, Australia.

Abstract

This study examined the predominant issues that judicial officers must consider when sentencing offenders convicted of child pornography or a material child abuse offense. The document is divided into 11 chapters that examine the following issues: the purposes of sentencing and the tensions involved in reconciling these purposes; the complexities involved in the fact-finding process; the use of scales to assess the seriousness of the offense; the prior good character or lack of previous convictions of the offender and its relevance to sentencing; and difficulties in applying the totality principle when there are multiple offences. The study also examined the use of aggravated and mitigating factors that need to be taken into account in sentencing offenders as described in the Crimes (Sentencing Procedures) Act 1999 (NSW). Last, the study examined common child pornography offenses and the use of sentencing statistics for imposing sentences for particular offenses. Figures, appendixes, bibliography, and tables