STATE OF TASMANIA v BLAKE CATE 27 AUGUST 2025
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE BRETT J
Mr Cate, you have pleaded guilty to the crimes of persistent sexual abuse of a child, grooming with the intention to expose a child to indecent material and 19 counts of possession of child exploitation material.
All of the charges relate to a sexual relationship which you conducted with a female, the complainant, who was then aged 13 to 14 years. The relationship commenced in late 2021 and continued until October 2023. You were aged between 19 and 21 during this time.
You came to know the complainant by chance shortly before the commencement of the relationship. It started as a romantic relationship but quickly became sexual. When it did, sexual contact, including full penile-vaginal sexual intercourse, occurred frequently. It is clear that the sexual nature of the relationship was instigated by you and that the complainant was initially reluctant to engage in such conduct. However, it is not alleged that any of the sexual contact occurred without her consent, apart from one occasion of indecent assault when you took a photograph of you touching the complainant’s breast while she was asleep.
The crime of persistent sexual abuse is comprised of eight specific occasions on which an unlawful sexual act took place. Of these, there are five occasions of penetrative sexual abuse constituted by penile-vaginal intercourse and three occasions of indecent assault, including the one already described. On at least two of the occasions of sexual intercourse, you did not wear a condom and ejaculated into the complainant’s vagina. I was told by way of background that this was something that occurred sometimes but on other occasions you would wear a condom. The complainant was fearful during the relationship that she might become pregnant.
Some of the particularised acts occurred at either your residence or the residence of the complainant’s parents and some occurred in a car. On at least one occasion, sexual intercourse took place in a public toilet.
The relationship came to an end when police interrupted a sexual act between you which was taking place in a car parked in a public area. The extent of the relationship was discovered after police reviewed the contents of your mobile telephone. The grooming and child exploitation material charges relate to messages and images located on your phone after your arrest. There were in excess of 6,500 text messages between you and the complainant. The messages contain highly sexualised communications between you. Some of these messages contain requests by you for the complainant to send you indecent photographs of herself. She clearly did this. The possession charges relate to such images stored by you in nominated folders on your phone. In each of the images, the complainant is posed naked, either exposing her upper body, including her breasts, alone or exposing her whole naked body in a sexualised manner. Some of the images were taken by her and some by you.
I have received an impact statement from the complainant. In it, she reflects the confusion and emotional difficulty she experienced dealing with the relationship and its aftermath. She asserts that you were controlling, persistent and at times aggressive. She found herself trapped in the relationship and had difficulty coping with your demands and control of her. This caused her frustration and emotional turmoil during the relationship, and these feelings have continued since it ended. The ongoing impact on the complainant has been significant. She asserts she has been diagnosed with PTSD as a direct result of your abuse and has been prescribed antidepressants to help what she describes as “debilitating anxiety”. She believes that she is not the same person that she was before the relationship. The trauma has impacted on her relationships.
The complainant’s description of your treatment of her during the relationship and her difficulty coping with it is consistent with assertions made by the prosecution. It is asserted that you would become aggressive from time to time and would harass her and demand that she express her allegiance to you. You exerted control over her, including by continually messaging her and restricting her from leaving you or returning home to her family. It is asserted that she tried to end the relationship on many occasions but you would not accept that and would not leave her alone. She dealt with your pressure by simply giving in to you and continuing with the relationship and the sexual activity.
None of this suggests that any of the sexual activity was without her consent. However, it was consent which came from decisions made by a young person, with the immaturity and inexperience that is typical of a person of the complainant’s age. That is why the law criminalises sexual acts with young people and children. It is well recognised that engagement in premature sexual activity can be harmful to a young person and can have adverse impact over an extended period of time. Sometime, these consequences can be lifelong. In this case, the nature and frequency of the sexual activity made the relationship a complex and demanding one. The complainant was simply not old enough or mature enough to be able to understand, cope with and make considered decisions about her participation in the relationship and in particular the sexual activity. There were also aspects of the sexual conduct which were degrading and had the potential to corrupt the complainant. All of this was happening at a time which was critical to her emotional, psychological and sexual development. Clearly, you did not have regard to any of this. Instead, you were focussed on your own sexual and emotional gratification. The complainant’s age made her particularly vulnerable, and you took advantage of that vulnerability.
The grooming and child exploitation charges are also serious. However, they do not fall into the same level of objective seriousness that would normally attend child exploitation cases. The serious aspect of these charges is that it is an aspect of the complex sexual nature of the relationship and hence adds to the overall impact on the complainant and in particular, her development. It is also of concern that you clearly intended to retain these images in digital form. In those circumstances, there was potential for such material to be publicised or be more widely distributed. If this were to occur, it would cause enormous harm to the complainant, and in any event the existence of the images would be an ongoing source of concern for her. It is not suggested that you actually had any intention to distribute the images but the potential is one of the reasons why the possession of such material is regarded seriously.
Your counsel has made comprehensive submissions about your background and I have also been provided with a very detailed report commissioned by him from Damian Minehan, a clinical psychologist. You are now 22 years of age. You have some prior convictions but there is nothing of a sexual nature. They are largely related to driving and dishonesty offences. You come from a large family and your childhood was a positive experience. You were injured in a motor vehicle accident when you were 13 and you still suffer ongoing pain as a result of those injuries. You lost your sister in tragic circumstances to suicide some time ago and this has had a profound impact on you. You found school difficult and left school partway through year 10. You have had some work since but have now been unemployed for a considerable time. You have had some other relationships and have a young daughter, who is under one year of age. She does not live with you but you see her regularly.
There are two aspects of Mr Minehan’s assessment which have significance. Firstly, his assessment of your intellectual and cognitive capacity indicates that you are in the borderline range, that is in the lower 3% of similarly aged peers. Further, Mr Minehan identifies some mental health and personality issues. He considers that you experience ADHD and it is clear also that you have been afflicted by depression and aspects of trauma including those arising from your sister’s death. There is a history of suicidal ideation and you have attempted suicide on at least one occasion. Mr Minehan notes that you have engaged in what he terms maladaptive coping strategies in particular long-term and problematic alcohol use. Mr Minehan does not suggest and it is not asserted on your behalf that your intellectual and mental health condition was directly related to your commission of this offending. However, in my view, they reflect a picture of a young person who was himself emotionally needy and with a limited capacity to deal with what quickly became a complex and intense relationship. Unfortunately, the way that you dealt with this was to place your own emotional and sexual desires above the welfare of the complainant and your legal obligations. I should make the point here that it is absolutely clear that you were well aware of her age and the criminal nature of your conduct and potential for severe punishment throughout all of this offending.
I am satisfied that you have now accepted responsibility for your conduct. This is reflected in your early pleas of guilty. Those pleas also have significant utilitarian benefit in that they have avoided the need for the complainant to be involved in preparation for or giving evidence at the trial. You should receive significant credit for this.
However, I cannot ignore the objective seriousness of the offending nor your moral culpability for it. General deterrence and denunciation of such conduct are the primary sentencing considerations. This is because of the enormous harm that can result from conduct of this nature, harm which is actually reflected in the complainant’s experience in this case. Adults, including young adults, who are inclined to take advantage of immature children and young people by engaging in unlawful sexual acts with them must realise that the conduct will be denounced by the community and they will face severe punishment. The only appropriate punishment is the imposition of a period of imprisonment. Having said that, it is appropriate having regard to your age and acceptance of responsibility that the sentence takes into account the corrupting nature of prison in respect of a young person, and also pays proper regard to the potential for your rehabilitation. The conclusion I have come to in balancing these various considerations is that there will be a sentence of imprisonment and you will have to serve some of it in prison. However, I also intend to suspend part of the sentence and provide for your supervision in the community after you are released from prison. This will provide the opportunity for engagement in the type of rehabilitative work and program suggested by Mr Minehan. Supervision will be a condition of suspension.
Accordingly, the orders I make are as follows:
- You are convicted of the crimes to which you have pleaded guilty;
- You are sentenced to a global term of two years and six months imprisonment, which will be backdated to 24 July 2025, to take account of time which you have already spent in custody. The balance after you have served 15 months of the sentence will be suspended for a period of 18 months on the following conditions:
- i that you are not to commit another offence punishable by imprisonment during that period.
- ii that you will be subject to the supervision of a probation officer. You must comply with this condition for a period of 18 months. That period will commence from when you lawfully cease to be imprisoned under this sentence. The court notes that the conditions referred to in s 24(5B) of the Sentencing Act apply to this condition. These include that you must report to a probation officer within three clear days of the day that you lawfully cease to be imprisoned under the sentence. In addition to the core conditions the order shall also include the following special conditions:
(a)you must, during the operational period of the order,
- attend educational and other programs as directed by the Court or a probation officer;
- submit to the supervision of a probation officer as required by the probation officer;
- undergo assessment and treatment for alcohol dependency as directed by a probation officer;
- submit to testing for alcohol use as directed by a probation officer;
- submit to medical, psychological or psychiatric assessment or treatment as directed by a probation officer;
- You are not eligible for parole in respect of the operative part of the sentence, that is the first 15 months.
- I am required to make an order under the Community Protection (Offender Reporting) Act 2005, unless I am satisfied that you do not pose a risk of committing a reportable offence in the future. Having regard to the circumstances of this case, and the conclusion of Mr Minehan that you present as a low to moderate risk for sexual offending in the future, I am not satisfied of that matter and, accordingly, must make an order. I order that your name be placed on the register pursuant to that Act and that you comply with the reporting obligations under that Act for a period of five years, which will commence on your release from prison.
- Pursuant to s 130F(2) of the Criminal Code, I order that the mobile telephone seized by police be forfeited to the Crown.