STATE OF TASMANIA v THOMAS LESLIE RENNISON 25 JUNE 2021
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE BRETT J
Mr Rennison, a jury has found you not guilty of the crime of rape, but guilty of indecent assault. I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the circumstances were these. You had contact with these two 15 year old girls via social media, probably Snapchat. I cannot be satisfied it was direct contact between them and you. But at some stage you learned where they were and that they were alone. The type of contact that had been made, either with you, or through someone else indirectly, was of a flirtatious nature and caused you to believe that you may be able to engage in some form of sexual contact with one or both of them. I find that you had no real knowledge of their age. You may well have believed, as you told the police, that they were around 17, although it did seem to me that you were not expressing a well thought out belief about that. I am satisfied you did not make any real effort to find out, and you were not particularly concerned as to how old they were.
You were going through a difficult time in your life. I have no doubt you were depressed and going through difficulties associated with the breakup of your marriage, and that you were probably taking drugs at the time. I suspect that all you were interested in was your own gratification. You were not particularly interested in the welfare of these two girls. Quite frankly, I think you should be ashamed of what you did, a 27 year old man going there with those intentions. I am also satisfied you took alcohol. Your probable intention was to offer that as a social medium. I do not think, and I will not find, that you went there with the intention of getting them drunk so you could take advantage of them. I suspect you thought it would be socially acceptable and would pave the way to sexual contact if you rolled up with some alcohol. It does not matter to me whether they were down the end of the driveway or they were on the porch when you arrived. You turned up with those intentions and with the alcohol.
My suspicion is this. The girls had not consumed any alcohol. What happened is that the complainant had a lot more of that alcohol to drink without any Coke to delete it, and it may well have been on an empty stomach, and she got very drunk very quickly. However, I do not think I can be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt as to that. I will give you the benefit of the doubt about that question. I will proceed on the basis that at least she had consumed some alcohol before you arrived. That does not really help you from a moral point of view because you should not have been there taking advantage of them at all. And certainly not if they were showing signs of having ingested some alcohol. However, it seems to me that what happened is that she went on a very sharp transition from appearing to be relatively sober, to being extremely intoxicated to the point of vomiting in the back of your car.
I think you and the complainant went to the car as a result of sexually suggestive innuendo, probably emanating from both of you. You both went to the car in that context. I do not think that she had formed any real view about what she was going to do when she got to the car. But I am satisfied that she went there with some understanding that there may well be some form of intimate contact. You, on the other hand, I think, went there expecting that you were going to have sex of some description. And again, you should be very ashamed about that.
When you got to the car, I think things happened in the way that I discussed with the prosecutor, that the complainant got into the backseat willingly, you got into the backseat with her and put the child seat over into the back. It is a shame that the presence of the child seat did not cause you to reflect on what you were doing. I think that you then attempted to initiate sexual contact by committing the indecent assault. This was constituted by trying to kiss her, which probably means actually kissing her, briefly touching her on the outside of her clothing in the area of her genitals, and I think, at least trying to remove some of her clothing. It is pretty clear that at least her underpants came off. Whether you or she removed them, I cannot say. I think that was all done relatively quickly. I will proceed on the basis that when it commenced, it was being done without her indicating dissent in any way, and that you believed, because she had consensually got into the car in the context that I have discussed, that she was consenting to what was happening and what you were hoping was about to happen. I think that she then realised very quickly that she was out of her depth, and did not want to go any further and told you that. That was coincidental also with the alcohol catching up with her, and around that time she also vomited in the back of your car.
The combination of those factors caused you to desist from going further. I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that you did desist at that point because, whatever my views about it might be, I must, I think, proceed on the basis that the jury was not prepared to accept the evidence of the witness beyond reasonable doubt, as to what she saw when she opened the car door. I must, I think, accept that she did not actually open the door at all while this was all happening. I make this finding because, if the jury had accepted what she said in evidence, you would have been found guilty of attempted rape.
I am going to proceed on the basis that thereafter things happened basically as you described to police. Your desistance is not necessarily a matter of honour for you. I suspect that her vomiting in the backseat had a lot to do with it, but in any event you did desist. She then got out of the car and you drove away. That is the factual basis on which I am going to proceed.
That is a serious indecent assault because it involves an adult man of 27, attempting to have some form of sexual contact and committing an indecent assault in that context with a 15 year old girl, who was obviously incapacitated to some extent by the alcohol she had consumed. On the other hand, I think that there are worse forms of indecent assault. The contact was over the clothing. You at least thought it was consensual, although she was only 15. I suspect it was relatively spontaneous and opportunistic, and not premeditated to any great extent, and, at least, you did desist from going any further at the point that I have indicated. I think that while it is always a serious matter if people under 18, who are children, are taken advantage of, there are some mitigating factors which distinguish this case from worse examples of this crime.
I take into account your state of mind at the time, your depression. I accept you have suffered as a result of your actions, and being charged with more serious offences. You have had to endure potential imprisonment for the crime of rape now for three years, which is far too long, but our system, as it is currently resourced, cannot offer any better. I should say it is too long for everybody involved, including the complainant. You have had to endure two trials. That was no one’s fault but you have had to endure it. Further, you have had to endure community disapproval. I am sure that has been quite significant and will continue to be quite significant. You have no prior convictions of significance. I think this was probably one-off offending. I think that there is no real risk that you are going to repeat conduct of this nature. What you have been through is very significant, so I think there is little requirement for personal deterrence. However, general deterrence remains a significant sentencing consideration. I think general deterrence can be adequately addressed by acknowledging the seriousness of a crime such as this by the imposition of a sentence of imprisonment. However, I also think that I can adequately respond to other sentencing considerations by wholly suspending that sentence.
I convict you of the crime of indecent assault and sentence you to five months’ imprisonment. That sentence will be wholly suspended for a period of 18 months from today on the condition that you do not commit any offence punishable by imprisonment during that period. Your lawyer will tell you that imprisonable offences include almost every offence on the statute books, including things like drink driving, unlicensed driving, that type of thing. On the question of the register, I am required to make an order under the Community Protection (Offender Reporting) Act, unless I am satisfied there is no risk that you will commit a further reportable offence in the future. In the circumstances of this case, I am satisfied of that. As I said in discussion with counsel, matters in favour of the risk are the fact that you went up to this house to take advantage of these girls, and that you continued along that path, at least for a short period, when you realised you were dealing with young females. On the other hand, I think this was opportunistic and you have had a big shock. You have had to endure three years of waiting for trial. You have had to endure everything else that I have discussed. I think the risk, if there is a risk, is not going to get any better than the state it would currently be at. Having regard to your lack of prior convictions, the discrete and opportunistic nature of this offending, and what has happened since, I am satisfied that there is no risk within the meaning of that legislation. Accordingly, I decline to make an order.