STATE OF TASMANIA v JOSEPH EDWARD REYNOLDS 17 APRIL 2019
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE BLOW CJ
Mr Reynolds has pleaded guilty to two charges of stalking and six charges of indecency. One stalking charge relates to a woman in New South Wales who is his former partner. All of the other charges relate to a woman in Devonport whom he has never met.
Mr Reynolds committed the crime of stalking against his former partner by sending her offensive material via social media over a period of about nine months, from September 2017 to May 2018. They were together for about seven months, from February until August 2017. The woman ended the relationship. They had been living together in southern New South Wales. Mr Reynolds returned to Tasmania. In a phone call on 10 September 2017, the woman told Mr Reynolds that she no longer wanted to have any contact with him, but he very much wished for some contact and friendship to continue. The woman blocked him from communicating with her via Facebook, Instagram, his mobile phone, and his father’s mobile phone. He began sending her messages via social media without using his own name. He had created several profiles for himself in false names. In April 2018 he sent her a Facebook message falsely asserting that his father had died. He sent her obscene messages on 3 May, 7 May, and 8 May. He sent her a message apologising later on 8 May. He sent her a photo of his penis on 22 May. On another occasion he sent her a long message lamenting the lack of contact from her. Eventually the woman made a formal complaint at a police station in southern New South Wales.
The woman in question is in her early 20s. She suffered from anxiety and depression before Mr Reynolds started sending her offensive messages. Her mental health deteriorated as a result of those messages, to such an extent that she sought professional help for the first time. She is apprehensive about returning to Tasmania, about revealing her whereabouts to relatives and friends, about using social media, and even about going out in public and having contact with men.
Mr Reynolds pleaded guilty to the stalking charge relating to his former partner in the Magistrates Court. I am dealing with that charge under s 385A of the Criminal Code.
The other charges relate to a woman now aged 21 who works as a personal trainer in Devonport and uses social media to communicate with clients and run her business. Mr Reynolds became aware of her through Facebook and Instagram. He began using Facebook Messenger to contact her, using seven different Facebook profiles which he had created without using his own name. He committed the crime of stalking in relation to this complainant between 14 August 2017 and 21 June 2018 by sending her unwanted messages, many of which were obscene and threatening. Many of them contained descriptions of sexual acts that he said he wanted to perform upon her, including acts of rape.
The six charges of indecency relate to six occasions from 15 December 2017 to 21 June 2018 when he made video recordings of himself masturbating and then sent those recordings to this complainant. Each was accompanied by a soundtrack in which Mr Reynolds said things in a sinister voice suggesting that he wanted to rape the complainant, or to have rough and cruel sex with her.
As a result of something that Mr Reynolds wrote in an Instagram post about the complainant, she was able to find out who he was. She went to the police. They obtained a warrant, searched Mr Reynolds’ home, and found material that incriminated him.
Mr Reynolds’ conduct towards this complainant caused her to feel very uncomfortable and scared. She became anxious about disclosing her whereabouts on social media, going out at night, and being alone. She made arrangements to stay overnight at a friend’s house whenever she would otherwise have been at home alone. She reduced her use of social media, even though that affected the way she conducted her business.
Mr Reynolds is 24 years old and single. He has no children. He has some prior convictions relating to two drug-related burglaries, minor drug offences, and driving with an illicit drug in his body. He has no convictions for anything like stalking or indecency. He has used cannabis since he was 13 years old, and became a daily user when he was 19. He completed community service orders and periods of probation in relation to the two burglaries, which he committed to get money to buy drugs. He lives with his father. They both receive disability support pensions. Mr Reynolds suffers from anxiety and depression and is said to have some degree of intellectual impairment His father suffers from worse anxiety and depression, as well as emphysema. Mr Reynolds acts as his father’s carer. On occasions he has had to take on the role of a first responder when his father has attempted suicide or needed urgent medical attention. He has had a most unhappy life for many years.
Mr Reynolds contacted his former partner inappropriately over a period of months because he was not able to accept that their relationship was over. He was keen for affection and contact from her. He accepts now that his conduct towards her was unacceptable and disturbing.
He commenced contacting the young woman in Devonport at a time when he yearned for attention from women in general and her in particular. He accepts now that his conduct was terrifying. He was using cannabis to excess at the time, and looking for ways to escape a miserable and frustrating life. His counsel indicated to the prosecuting authorities last October that he would be pleading guilty to the charges relating to the complainant. Since then there has been no likelihood that she might have to give evidence. Mr Reynolds is absolutely ashamed and appalled in relation to his conduct towards both complainants.
I was told that Mr Reynolds was not keen to seek help from probation officers in the past, but that he now has a different attitude and wishes to make substantial changes to his life. If he does not, it seems likely that he will soon do something that results in him going to prison.
I have decided to impose a suspended sentence, so that Mr Reynolds will not have to go to prison unless he re-offends. However I will require him to perform some community service and will place him on probation.
Joseph Edward Reynolds, I convict you on all charges and, as a global penalty, I sentence you to five months’ imprisonment, wholly suspended on conditions that (a) you are not to commit another offence punishable by imprisonment for a period of two years; and (b) you are to perform 140 hours’ community service within the next 12 months. I make a community correction order, to operate for 12 months from today, with conditions that (a) you must report tomorrow to a probation officer at Devonport; (b) you must, undergo assessment and treatment in relation to substance abuse as directed by a probation officer; (c) you must submit to testing for drug use as directed by a probation officer; and (d) you must submit to medical, psychological or psychiatric assessment or treatment as directed by a probation officer. I order that the Registrar appointed under s 42 of the Community Protection (Offender Reporting) Act 2005 cause your name to be placed on the register under that Act, and that you comply with the reporting obligations under that Act for five years. I direct that the offence that is the subject of complaint 54973/18 be recorded on your criminal record as a family violence offence.