XP

STATE OF TASMANIA v XP SHANAHAN CJ
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE 21 OCTOBER 2026

Under s 194K(1)(b)(i) of the Evidence Act 2001 a person, in relation to proceedings in any court, must not publish identifying information, or cause identifying information to be published in respect of any person in respect of whom a crime is alleged to have been committed under s 125A or s 127 of the Criminal Code 1924 (“Code”) and I have anonymised the references to you and others to ensure that the terms of the section are met, I will refer to you as “XP”.

XP you were convicted following your trial between 27 and 30 April 2026 on the five counts in indictment 318 of 2025, which I will refer to as the first indictment. Those counts included persistent sexual abuse of a child contrary to s 125A of the Code and four counts of indecent assault contrary to s 127 of the Code. They included offences against three young female complainants, two of whom were your daughters. You were convicted of persistent sexual abuse of a child in respect of the first complainant, your eldest daughter. You were convicted of two counts of indecently assaulting the second complainant, also your daughter, and two counts of indecently assaulting the third complainant. I refer to them as complainants 1, 2 and 3.

Following trial you were remanded in custody on 30 April 2026 and subsequently pleaded guilty to a second indictment on 10 August 2026, being indictment 317 of 2025, alleging a single count of persistent family violence against a person with whom you were in a family relationship contrary to s 170A(2) of the Code. The complainant was your former wife, to whom I will refer as “YP”. I refer to indictment 317 of 2025 as the second indictment.

I am to sentence you for your offending in respect of both indictments today.

First Indictment – Facts

Turning to the facts upon which I am to sentence you with regard to the first indictment. I directed the jury, upon your trial, that the State case in respect of each of the three complainants rested on their evidence, and that to convict the jury would have to be satisfied on each count of the truth and reliability of the relevant complainant’s evidence beyond reasonable doubt. Thus, the jury’s verdict of “guilty” on all counts on that indictment is to be understood as an acceptance of each complainant’s evidence and I am obliged to sentence you on that basis. I deal with each of the five counts in turn.

Your offending occurred against the backdrop of relationship issues. Your former wife, YP, gave evidence that you and she had three children including complainant 1, complainant 2 and a boy. You began a relationship in 2011, married in 2015 and separated in around May 2019. After the separation you moved in with your parents but would visit the former family home almost every day. You were a shift worker, and the timing of your visits reflected the shifts you were working, that is if you were working a morning shift you would visit in the afternoon, and vice versa if you were working in the afternoon. On weekends you would normally come in in the morning and stay all day, and that occurred on both Saturdays and Sundays. You would occasionally cook meals and supervise the children.

On the count of persistent sexual abuse against complainant 1, you indecently assaulted her between on or about 1 January 2020 and 26 June 2022, a period of two and a half years. Complainant 1 was born on 27 June 2012 and was seven at the start of that period and one day short of her 10th birthday at the end of it.

There were six occasions relied upon by the State which were said to constitute your persistent sexual abuse, these were described as you touching complainant 1’s breasts, or her vagina, either directly, or through her clothing.

Complainant 1 said the first time occurred when she was eight and her mother was out clothes shopping and you were looking after her. She was in her bedroom playing Roblox with her siblings. The complainant said she was changing into pyjamas, and she took off her t-shirt. You were touching her with your hand on her breasts and vagina by touching her skin and later poking her through her pyjamas. She screamed at you to stop. It occurred at a time when you had separated from your former wife but were visiting the family home.

Shortly thereafter as complainant 1 was in her pyjamas getting her brother ready for a shower. You repeatedly touched her with your hand in the same manner through her clothes and only stopped when you began cooking dinner. You ate with the family and left. Once you left, complainant 1 and her siblings were crying, and she told her mother what had happened.

Complainant 1 then described the last time you touched her, which she said occurred as you were getting her ready for school when she was nine. She had a shower and you were drying her, although she knew how to dry herself, and you started touching her in the same areas as on the first occasion. On that occasion you touched her over her clothes. At the time complainant 1’s mother was on the phone. After you left, complainant 1 told her mother what had happened.

Complainant 1 described another occasion when you touched her. Her mother was on the phone, and you had been playing a game on your phone, and then you lost and turned the phone off. Complainant 1 went to the shower because she needed to wash her hair. As she got out of the shower and was drying herself you entered the bathroom as she was getting dressed. You then started touching complainant 1 in the same places on the skin under her clothing as she tried to get changed. You left and she got changed.

Another occasion occurred when you, complainant 1 and her sister went to the park. You rang a girl named “T” and invited her to come to the park with her children. When complainant 1’s sister became ill you returned home with your daughters in a hurry, where complainant 1’s sister threw up. You arrived home and after her sister had thrown up you pulled and then dragged complainant 1 into the bedroom and started touching her with your hand under her clothing in the same places, she described it as “touching me in the same places but hard”. Complainant 1 told you to stop but you would not. Her mum was outside playing with her other children and cooking a barbeque. You then left.

On a further occasion complainant 1 said that you kept touching her after she had finished getting ready for school, “but sort of hard and soft”. You were touching complainant 1 over her clothing, she was wearing some shorts and a school polo top with a headband because she had PE.

Turning to the two counts of indecent assault in respect of complainant 2. Complainant 2 was born on 16 October 2014. There are two counts of indecent assault. The first occurred between on or about 16 October 2020 and the same date in 2021. That is, between complainant 2’s sixth and seventh birthdays, you unlawfully and indecently assaulted complainant 2 by touching her breasts, vagina and buttocks. The second count occurred during the same period when you again touched her breasts, vagina and buttocks.

Complainant 2 described the first count of indecent assault as occurring when she had a shower and her mum was helping her to wash her hair but her mother had to go and do something, and you were then helping her to get dry in the living room whilst her mother was in the kitchen.

You were drying complainant 2 when you dropped the towel and kept rubbing her “private areas” and then moved up to her breasts. When complainant 2 challenged you about what you were doing you said “Oh just drying you off”, but at that time you did not even have the towel in your hands. She gave evidence that when you asked her what was wrong, she did not want you to get into a fight with her mother.

In respect of the second count of indecent assault complainant 2 said you used to tickle her but that you only used to tickle her “down there”, on her private parts, and when she would roll over you would tickle her there and when she rolled back over you moved down there and did it again. She said it occurred during a game that you called “tickle monster” on a day when her mother was out doing something and her sister and brother were in the bedroom. Complainant 2 was wearing a dress

Complainant 3 was not your daughter; she was born on 9 September 1999. Your offending against complainant 3 was historic and emerged as a result of the police investigation relating to your daughters, the first two complainants. There were two counts that occurred in 2006. Complainant 3 turned seven years old on 9 September 2006. There was evidence from your former girlfriend, whom you dated between 2000-2006, and I will refer to her as “ZP”. ZP had a sister and a brother. Complainant 3 was the daughter of ZP’s sister. On the material evening you and ZP were visiting ZP’s sister’s house. It was a family gathering. ZP gave evidence that her sister’s husband had alerted her that you were in his child’s bedroom with his daughter in the dark. ZP’s sister’s husband is now deceased.

Complainant 3 gave evidence about the events describing you as her aunt’s boyfriend. The offending took place on two occasions. The first occasion related to an area under an outdoor flight of stairs. Complainant 3 said that you would touch her with your fingers, “in my private area”, by which she was referring to her vagina, and that you would “kind of hide it from everyone else”. She said that you would sit her on your lap, stick your fingers in your mouth, then you would put them down her pants and rub the outside of her vagina. The second occasion occurred in complainant 3’s bedroom when you pulled her dress up, pulled her underwear down and licked her vagina.

Your offending encompassed each of the three complainants, two were aged six to seven years and another aged eight to nine. There are similarities in your offending both as to the age and gender of the complainants and the nature of your sexual assaults upon them. All of them constituted a gross breach of trust, you took away the innocence of three children almost too young to understand what you were doing, and your offending has had far reaching consequences, as reflected in the victim impact statements.

Complainant 1, your eldest daughter, gave a victim impact statement which she read in Court and which describes her nightmares about being assaulted again, and how your offending has affected her mental health. She started to self-harm as a result of your offending, as she put it “just to feel physical pain rather than the emotional pain I was suffering”. She often finds herself dissociating from reality. She experiences anxiety, did not want to attend school and does not feel safe.

Complainant 1 says she does not go to family celebrations anymore, and she has developed the habit of showering multiple times a day and changing her clothes because she never feels really clean and can feel your hands upon her body. She describes her emotions as ranging from sadness to confusion and describes the loss she feels and summed up her feelings in the following way “The confusion is because he is my dad, and I loved him, and he was meant to protect me. I experience anger thinking how he could do this to me and how he could think it was OK”.

Complainant 2, your second daughter, also gave a victim impact statement, read by her mother, in which she describes not wanting to be outside particularly when it is dark. She needs to have the television on when she sleeps. She repeatedly checks the windows and doors to make sure they are locked. When showering she uses multiple towels on the floor as bare feet on cold vinyl is a trigger for her recollections of your sexual assaults. She has nightmares, social anxiety and intrusive thoughts. Her mental health has suffered, and she has engaged in self-harm and made a suicide attempt. She has experienced eating disorder and been diagnosed with Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. She has also had to watch the impact of your offending on other family members; she states, “I feel really sad because he was my dad”.

Complainant 3 did not provide a victim impact statement.

Any sentence of imprisonment is to be backdated to the 30 April 2026 when you were remanded following your trial.

First Indictment – State Sentencing Submissions

It was put by the State, and I accept, that I am obliged to take the matters at s 11A of the Sentencing Act 1997 (Tas) into account. For the purposes of s 11A “sexual offence” is defined at s 11A(1) to include a crime under either s 125A or s 127 of the Code. “Aggravating circumstance” is defined under s 11A(1) to mean relevantly:

“(a) the victim being under the care, supervision or authority of the offender;

…

(d) the offender committing the offence in whole or in part in the presence of any other person or persons, besides the victim;

(da) the victim being under the age of 18 years and the offender being a person in a position of authority in relation to the victim (regardless of whether the offence is under section 124A of the Criminal Code, or any other section of the Criminal Code ) …”.

A “person in a position of authority” for the purposes of s 11A of the Sentencing Act has the same meaning as in s 124A of the Code which provides:

“person in a position of authority , in relation to a child, includes the following persons:

…

(b) a parent of the child or a person who is in a significant relationship, within the meaning of the Relationships Act 2003, with a parent of the child”

I find that ss 11A(1)(a), (c) and (da) apply to each of complainant 1 and complainant 2. There are also occasions when the offending against those complainants may have happened in the presence of a sibling but that is somewhat unclear and I have not applied s 11A(1)(d) in respect of complainants 1 and 2.

In respect of complainant 3 neither you, or your then girlfriend, ZP, were her parent nor is it clear that she was ever in your care, supervision or authority.

There is, however, evidence that your offending against complainant 3 on the first occasion, under the outside stairs, was in the presence of others, and thus I would apply s 11A(1)(d).

Under s 11A(2) of the Sentencing Act I am obliged to take into account any aggravating circumstances in relation to such sexual offences. I am not to take into account your previous good character or lack of previous convictions if I am satisfied that your alleged good character or lack of previous convictions were of assistance to you in the commission of the sexual offence.

The Court is, of course, also obliged to take into account the vulnerability of the three complainants as a result of their age (s 11BA(1)(b)) and also as a result of the personal relationship between the victim and you, the offender. In this instance father and daughter in respect of complainants 1 and 2, and family friend or member in respect of complainant 3.

For the purposes of s 11BA(2) of the Sentencing Act I am satisfied that you selected the complainants as victims because of their vulnerability as a result of their personal circumstances being their age and their membership of your family circle. That process of selection is also an aggravating circumstance which I am obliged to take into account.

Second Indictment – Facts

The State read the following facts on the second indictment.

You and the complainant, YP, commenced your relationship in 2011. At the start of your relationship, you and she resided with the complainant’s mother. In or around 2012, you and the complainant moved into a unit. You had three children during your relationship. Your relationship was marred by family violence involving arguments, with you screaming at the complainant, and committing other acts like digging your fingers into her shoulders.

You separated from your former wife after you had an affair, and your treatment of the complainant deteriorated further. You then moved out of the family unit. In addition to the general conduct of verbal and physical aggression, you committed acts of physical and sexual violence on specific occasions to which I now turn.

Occasion 1; between October and November 2011, the complainant was in the early stages of pregnancy with your first child. The complainant was lying on the floor in front of the fireplace at her mother’s house. You came over to where the complainant was laying and put your foot on her stomach and pushed down. The complainant asked you to stop. You smiled at her and pushed down harder. The complainant screamed at you, demanding you stop, but you continued to push your foot down harder. The complainant’s mother was also in the loungeroom and witnessed you push your foot on the complainant’s stomach.

Occasion 2 occurred between December 2016 and January 2017, the complainant was approximately 22 weeks pregnant with your last child, your son. You were angry and aggressive towards the complainant. You were yelling at the complainant and followed her around the house. You entered your daughter’s bedroom; the complainant followed you in and asked you to leave the room because of the way that you were behaving. You went to leave the room, and as you were exiting the door, you shoved the complainant backwards forcefully into the wall in the hallway.

Occasion 3; approximately a week following occasion two, between December 2016 and January 2017, you and the complainant had been invited to a barbecue. The complainant stayed home with the children, and you attended the barbecue. You returned to the family home between 3 am and 4 am and got into bed with the complainant. The complainant could smell alcohol and marijuana on your breath. You asked the complainant to have sex to which the complainant reluctantly agreed to avoid an argument.

You began having sex with the complainant, which started normally. The complainant was on her back, with you on top of her. After some time, you started getting rough and aggressive with the complainant. The sexual intercourse was forceful, and the force of your movements was putting pressure on the complainant’s stomach. She was approximately 23 weeks pregnant with your son at this stage. The complainant asked you to stop, and you stopped and got off her.

After a short time, you got back on top of the complainant and started to have sex with her again. You were being rough and aggressive with the complainant. The complainant told you to stop, that it was uncomfortable, and that it hurt. You did not stop having sex with the complainant in response to this request. You continued to have sex with the complainant after she had withdrawn her consent and until you ejaculated.

Occasion 4; in December 2017, you and complainant were in the dining room. The children were nearby in the loungeroom. You grabbed both of the complainant’s arms and pinned them behind her back. You pushed the complainant’s right arm back up behind her, as you said, “You need to kiss me.” The complainant responded by saying, “I don’t have to kiss you.” You repeated that the complainant had to kiss you, and said that if she did, then you would let her go. The complainant asked you to let her go and said that she did not want to kiss you. The complainant could see that the children were watching the incident. You pushed the complainant’s arm further, and the complainant heard a popping sound at the top of her shoulder, and felt pain radiate up and down her arm immediately. You then let go of her arm.

During your relationship, the complainant was diagnosed with epilepsy and suffered from seizures. On a number of unspecified occasions, the complainant had a seizure whilst in bed with you. When she was in the post-ictal phase of the seizure, where she could not talk or move her arms and legs, you would move towards her, unbutton her top, and move your hands over her breasts. You would rub your hands over her breasts and down her stomach to her vagina. Whilst in this phase, the complainant was unable to say no or move to prevent you from doing this. You would say things like, “It’s okay, you want this, this will make you feel better.”

On an unspecified number of occasions, you did this when the complainant was wearing a nightie, which you would lift up, and then touch her in the same way. On an unspecified number of occasions, the complainant would manage to use one arm to smack you away. On some of the occasions, this would cause you to stop touching the complainant. On other occasions, you would say something along the lines like, “No, no, no, you want this, it’s okay,” and then continue to touch the complainant.

When this occurred at the complainant’s mothers address on an unspecified number of occasions, the complainant would grunt or hit the wall, attempting to alert her mother. This type of event happened frequently throughout the relationship, such that the complainant cannot specify the number of times this occurred.

Second Indictment – Police Interview

On 15 February 2023, you attended the Glenorchy Police Station voluntarily to participate in an electronically recorded interview. Under caution you said that the complainant was your former wife. When asked about the allegations of touching the complainant to the breasts and vagina whilst she was having a seizure, you said that it was, “False, completely false.” After the remaining allegations were put to you, you responded by saying, “To me, it’s a misinterpretation of the way it’s been projected.”

You said that you and the complainants had ended up in a “toxic situation”, which is why you are no longer together, and that is part of why it is a toxic situation. When you were asked whether you wanted to tell police a bit more about the toxic situation, you said that the complainant used to threaten that she was going to tell people that you did stuff to her, but you never used to do stuff to her. You said that the complainant had previous abusive relationships, and at times you would argue like couples, but it was not violent, you would never hit her, and you never did. You said you and the complainant would wrestle at times, and someone would get hurt, but it was not – it was not a violet act, it was two people playing.

You then asked for the interview to be terminated, which it was. Your assertions in the interview are not accepted by the State. You were not charged or detained at that time, and you spent no time in custody in relation to this matter until your remand on 30 April 2026.

Second Indictment – Victim Impact Statements

The complainant read her victim impact statement. She said to try and write such a statement was daunting because “it doesn’t seem there are enough words or the right words to really convey the true impact that these crimes have had on me and my life”.

The complainant stated that your offending has impacted her life, physically, mentally, emotionally, and behaviourally, and has changed her life in ways that will forever leave her with a sense of grief because she has issues with safety, trusting people and herself. She has lost the joy of family celebrations and a normal carefree life. Your offending has affected her physical health. The physical harm and trauma caused by the assaults resulted in a diagnosis of fibromyalgia by a rheumatologist at the Royal Hobart Hospital. The pain is constant and severe, such that completing daily tasks can take three times as long. Occasionally, she is bedridden and unable to move her body. The stress has also caused an increase in severe headaches and migraines. She has been diagnosed with depression and anxiety during your marriage and was prescribed medication to treat the symptoms; however, the medications had to be ceased due to side-effects. The anxiety has led to a panic disorder which would leave her unable to leave the house. She was prescribed medication to help lessen the panic attacks. She has experienced suicidal ideation and engaged in self-harming behaviours to dull the emotional pain.

The complainant said she has experienced behavioural changes such as her sleep patterns. She suffers from nightmares and anxiety. She checks doors and windows repeatedly. Her eating pattern has changed a lot. She suffers flashbacks of the assaults. The way she views herself has changed, she struggles with body image and how she feels about herself and her body following the sexual assault. She will often shower twice a day and scrub her skin to cleanse herself of the harm. She feels violated. She will go through times where she cannot stand to be touched at all, and does not like people near her.

The complainant has several health conditions that require ongoing pelvic examinations and surgery. Due to the sexual assault, she has experienced trauma responses when undergoing these examinations. She has sadness reflecting on her pregnancies and the way in which the children have been impacted. The assaults have impacted every relationship in her life, including family and friends. She has become extremely isolated. The following summarised her feelings,

“The memories of what happened will always overshadow every aspect of my life. I must remind myself every day that I am okay and safe. I have so much resentment. I feel so incredibly angry, frustrated, confused, and hurt that my life and that of my children was changed so irrevocably by the actions of a man who was supposed to love, care for, and protect us. He was supposed to be building a life with our children and I, and instead I am trying to heal from it, as are they. The damage that has been done and the fallout is something that I must live with.”

Second Indictment – State Sentencing Submissions

On the second indictment your offending against the complainant involved sexual offences of the type described at paragraph (a) of the definition of “sexual offence” in s 11A(1) of the Sentencing Act. Whilst it was not the subject of a State submission, I note that the complainant on the second indictment when she had suffered an epileptic seizure was “disabled” within the meaning of “disability” under s 11A of the Sentencing Act, such as to make your offending during the post-ictal phase of her epileptic seizures an aggravating circumstance under s 11A(1)(b).

Section 11A(2) of the Sentencing Act applies on the second indictment. Indeed, that provision applies to your offending on both indictments such that I am not to take into account evidence of good character or lack of previous convictions in your sentencing.

The State also makes an application, pursuant to s36 of the Family Violence Act 2004 (Tas), for a family violence order, which is sought in the same terms as the family violence order made on 11 March 2026. The State submits that the duration of the order ought to be indefinite, and that this is a matter to which s 13A of the Family Violence Act applies. It is put that the crime ought to be recorded on your criminal record, as a family violence offence.

The State also submitted that this is a matter to which s 13(a)(i) and 13(a)(ii) of the Family Violence Act apply. Those provisions identify “aggravating factors” when sentencing for a family violence offence, they provide:

The fact that the offender knew or was reckless as to whether a child was present or on the premises at the time of the offence; and
The fact that the offender knew or was reckless as to whether the affected person was pregnant.

The State submits that s 13(a)(i) of those aggravating circumstances are present in respect of occasions 2, 3 and 4, that is that you knew that children were present on the premises when those offences were occurring. And then in respect of occasions 1, 2 and 3 that 13A(ii) applies as you knew that the complainant was pregnant at those times. I accept those submissions. I have already noted that to the extent your offending occurred whilst the complainant was in the post-ictal stage of an epileptic seizure it was aggravated.

Prior Convictions

In respect of your prior convictions the State submitted that there are no matters of any relevance to this matter. The absence of relevant prior offences does not assist you in this matter and cannot be taken into account in mitigation.

Mitigation

No medical or presentence reports were sought on your behalf. It was acknowledged by counsel that no reliance was placed on Verdins‘ considerations.

You were 46 years of age at the date of the sentencing submissions made by counsel on your behalf. You grew up in what you describe as a stable family environment. You have one elder sibling, and she is six years older than you.

You were adopted into your family, but that fact was never kept from you. You have known all your life that you were an adopted child, but the reason for your being adopted was not disclosed to you until you were 33 years of age. The reason that you were put up for adoption was that your biological mother had an affair with her husband’s brother, and you were a result of that union.

You have a biological half-sister, being a daughter of your mother but not your father, that you have never met. It was put that you have had some difficulties knowing that your biological half-sister remained in the family unit. Growing up, you felt that you did not fit into your adopted family unit. You describe it as feelings of abandonment, especially given that you were aware that you had a biological half-sister that had been raised by your biological mother.

It was submitted that your feelings in that regard were certainly not in any way because of the way you were treated within your adopted family unit, which included your older adopted sister. You have always had a good relationship with your older adopted sister, and she’s remained supportive of you. I am told that she’s been attending Court and has been visiting you in custody.

You describe yourself as not having been very good at school, and that you did not enjoy it, you say that you did not push yourself academically. You completed year 12, but then left school and joined the Navy when you were 18 years of age.

The Navy was your first employer. You remained in the service for approximately 20 months. During that period of time, you were diagnosed with depression, and as a result of medical issues you were honourably discharged.

After your discharge from the Navy, you were subsequently diagnosed with chronic depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I am told that part of the reason why you did not continue in the Navy was because you had been sexually assaulted while in service. It is put that experience underpins in part your diagnoses of depression. You did not report the sexual assault, you are embarrassed about the fact that it occurred, and you find it very difficult to talk about. You do not want to talk about it, beyond the disclosure itself.

You used marijuana to self-medicate on a daily basis, for approximately seven to eight years. You stopped at the age of 28 as a result of suffering four strokes in quick succession. I was told that they were caused by hyper-tension.

After the last of the four strokes, you were hospitalised and placed into an induced coma for two weeks. The seizures have left you with a weakness on the left side of your body. Whilst that has improved since the strokes the left side of your body is still weaker than the right.

The longer term effects include feeling a lack of patience and at times, presenting as being aggressive and impatient and you describe yourself as having something of an anger issue as a result of the strokes, which you say was not part of your personality before the strokes occurred.

You were placed on anti-epileptic medication for about a year after the strokes, you were also medicated for the hypertension, and that seems to have resolved the issue. You seek to keep your blood pressure under control. You do that by seeking to regulate the social circumstances that you place yourself in, and to place people around you who are supportive of you. These measures have assisted to manage and control your blood pressure.

You describe yourself as having felt isolated. After the strokes, your family describe you as withdrawing. Your counsel described it as essentially going into hiding, and that you have found society and social interaction overwhelming at times. I am to take these matters into account by way of general background.

In relation to your mental health, I was told that you have received counselling and attended 10 counselling sessions. The psychological counselling was as a result of a mental health care plan which entitled you to 10 free sessions.

Your counsel said that you completed those sessions but did not find them particularly helpful. I was told that you have generally found that achieving stability in your life has been the best way that you can manage your mental health, and that when your life is stable and things are going well, that you see improvements in that regard. By way of contrast, at times of crisis you have resorted to self-medication with cannabis, and similarly with alcohol, at times. I was told that at the time that you were remanded in custody, you were not using any illicit substances at that point in time and had ceased use.

You have had regular employment since leaving the Navy. Initially, you worked for a hire company for a few years. You then worked for Blundstone for two years, Pizza Hut for three years, TasRacing for eight years, Blundstone again for seven years, and one and a half years for “Quiet Fire Marine”, who make and fit marine insulation. The latter was your last employment which you held prior to going into custody in relation to these matters.

You have largely been in full-time employment, except for various short periods of time between jobs. You have had two workers compensation claims. Both arose through your employment at Blundstone. The first was a wrist injury, described as either carpal tunnel or RSI. The second was a lower back injury when you tore the muscle from your lower spine. In relation to both of those injuries you were able to return to work.

Whilst you were employed with TasRacing, you completed two TAFE courses in music. You have a Certificate IV Diploma in Audio. You have produced your own rock music CD.

In terms of relationships, you have not had a serious relationship until you met your former wife. You had previously had short-term relationships, but nothing of a long-term nature. You met when you were 31 years of age. You had been at high school together but met again after you had produced the CD. Your former wife was wanting to purchase it and had made contact with you and, as a result of that, a friendship developed and a relationship ensued and the relationship itself developed very quickly.

It was put, on your behalf that your former wife had obtained medical advice that, if she was to have children she would need to do so relatively quickly and, as a result, you moved in together while you were still attending TAFE, and your relationship commenced and your first child, complainant 1, was born approximately a year after you started your relationship and then complainant 2 was born two years after that, and your son was born three years after complainant 2. So you had three children with your former wife within some 6 years.

You finished TAFE in 2013 and moved to Hobart, and you and your former wife were then living together full-time. You were married in 2016. Your relationship with your former wife was between 2011 to 2019. You describe the last portion of that relationship as very rocky, with issues throughout the course of the relationship.

From 2020 you had moved out of the family home but continued to co-parent. You were at the former family home every day at some point in time. I was told that this is when the relationship had a significant downturn, albeit you had already separated from your wife. It was put that there was significant arguing in the relationship, and your separation has to be described as very acrimonious.

I was told that at this point you commenced drinking and using cannabis again, that you were using these as coping mechanisms. It meant that a lot of the times when you attended the former family residence and were caring for the children you were under the influence of cannabis or alcohol.

You describe your relationship with your former wife as initially good, but that at the end it had deteriorated into a very volatile relationship. At that time, you describe stresses that include your work environment, coming home, the responsibilities of then being involved in the parenting of the children, and being exhausted.

You express a significant amount of guilt for your part in the environment that was created in the family home when you were arguing with your former wife, and acknowledges that it must have been very distressing for the children to be witnessing the family violence. You accept that the home environment was not a good environment for the children and they were exposed to arguments around separation and afterwards.

You met your current partner because you were catching a bus at about the same time. You started talking and became friends. That developed into a relationship after separation from your former wife.

I was taken through a timeline of your offending. It identified the two streams of inquiry and how complainant 3 on the first indictment came to be contacted by police. It was noted that you were first interviewed on the 15 February 2023 and that charges were laid in August 2024 creating some delay. The State explained that authorities to charge had issued in June 2024. Whilst there is no suggestion that you delayed the process of taking evidence and hearing these matters you are not entitled to the benefit of a plea of guilty on the first indictment as it went to trial, and on the second you are entitled to the value of a late plea of guilty. The benefit of that plea is largely utilitarian in the sense that there was no need for a second trial.

Following the events leading to the historic charges being laid against you on the first indictment in respect of complainant 3 you were assaulted by complainant 3’s uncle who hit you with a guitar. As a result of that assault it was put that you received a concussion, and still have a scar on your head. Further, that you had bruising to your back.

You have been in a new relationship since 2022. You have had a child, and the child is now three years of age. You describe it as a stable relationship. Your partner has three children from other relationships – including a 19-year-old – all of whom reside with her. You had all been living together until you were remanded. I was told all three of the children of your new partner have been writing to you since you have been in custody. To the extent that matter is raised as evidence of your good character I am unable to take it into account due to the provisions of the Sentencing Act to which I have referred. To the extent that it is raised to suggest that you are not at risk of re-offending I have taken it into account, however I am not persuaded that you are not at the risk of re-offending. I say that because of the nature of your offending against children of a similar age over a lengthy period.

You are supported by your new partner, sister and father. Your mother was diagnosed with dementia in October of 2025, You are close to both your parents, who are currently 77 years of age, and up until your mother going into care, you had been trying to help your father to maintain your mother in the family home. Your father has had a cancer scare, and I am told you are very concerned about that.

I am told that alcohol and drugs are no longer an issue, and that you ceased using both prior to going into custody.

I am told that you are remorseful about the absence of contact with your children by your former wife. I understand that you are remorseful insofar as what the children have gone through. That is in respect of the home environment that you created and were a part of. You are also remorseful about the need for the children to give evidence, and you are remorseful in respect of the matters raised in relation to family violence on the second indictment. Of course, that does not acknowledge your offending or the part that has played in what your children have had to go through. I was left with the clear indication that you do not accept the jury’s verdict in respect of the first indictment, and thus your remorse does not extend that far. It is also somewhat contradictory to feel remorse with regard to a trial process that the children were put through in respect of sexual crimes that a jury has found were committed against them, and the third complainant, by you.

You accept that the lifetime family violence order is necessary. You say that you hope it gives the parties comfort and allows them to heal. Of course, there would have been no need for the complainants to heal had you not committed the offences for which I am sentencing you today.

Disposition

XP I convict you on all counts on indictments 318 and 317 of 2025.

Over a lengthy period, this Court has identified and condemned this type of offending as particularly serious as it involves a substantial and significant breach of trust both in respect of the three children involved and also your former wife. In DPP v Harrington (2017) 27 Tas R 128 Pearce J observed at [89]:

“In sentencing for sexual crimes in general, and especially crimes against children, general deterrence is an important consideration. In R v S [1985] TASSC 25 at 4, Neasey J referred to the importance of general deterrence “in pursuance of the court’s duty to do what they can to protect children”. Courts have an important role in protecting children in imposing sentences that will operate as a deterrent to those who may be inclined to engage in such conduct.”

In respect of your offending against children, as observed by Wood J in Director of Public Prosecutions v STU (2012) 21 Tas R 322 at [60]:

“The sentences that are imposed must reflect the community’s concern about offences involving the sexual abuse of children, recognising the awareness that now exists within our society of the potential for victims to sustain substantial harm as a consequence of such offending.”

Equally, deterrence is of particular importance where the perpetrator was in a position of trust: R v BJW (2000) 112 A Crim R 1 at 20. In this instance your offending against your daughters was a gross breach of trust, your offending against complainant 3 on the first indictment was also a breach of the trust allowed to someone admitted to a family circle and placed in a position where offending such as yours was made possible. Equally taking advantage of your former wife’s epilepsy to satisfy your sexual desires is also a significant breach of trust.

I doubt your prospects of rehabilitation in circumstances where you continue to reject the jury’s verdict on the offending the subject of the first indictment and note the self-serving quality of now expressing remorse about circumstances created largely by your own conduct. I also note the period over which your offending took place. Your offending requires denunciation and vindication of the complainants. There is little that can be said in mitigation beyond the general circumstances outlined on your behalf by counsel and the utilitarian benefit of your plea on the second indictment. It is put that you have issues with depression and PSTD, but I have no medical evidence regarding those matters. The sentence imposed takes into account the matters raised in mitigation, which includes but is not limited to your age, health, background and your plea of guilty in respect of the second indictment.

To my observation the penalties imposed have been increasing both in respect of sexual offending against children and family violence and sexual assaults against women. I intend to impose a single sentence in this matter.

The grave seriousness of your offending in respect of each count on each indictment hardly needs to be re-stated, but I reiterate and acknowledge it. I also acknowledge the importance of protecting children as a paramount sentencing consideration.

These factors coupled with your moral culpability, the need for general and specific deterrence, vindication of the complainants and denunciation mean that the only possible sentence is a term of imprisonment to be served immediately. I will back date the sentence to 30 April 2026.

Under s 11(3) of the Sentencing Act, I am obliged, when sentencing an offender for more than one child sexual offence, to identify the sentence that would have been imposed for each offence had separate sentences been imposed. In doing so I take into account the aggravating factors that have been identified.

If I were sentencing you separately in respect of each of the five counts on the first indictment involving the three separate complainants, I would sentence you as follows:

in respect of your offending against complainant 1, on count 1 of the first indictment, being the persistent sexual abuse of a child – an immediate term of four years imprisonment;
in respect of your offending against complainant 2, on count 2 of the first indictment, being indecent assault – an immediate term of 1 and a half years imprisonment;
in respect of your offending against complainant 2, on count 3 of the first indictment, being indecent assault – an immediate term of 1 and a half years imprisonment;
in respect of your offending against complainant 3, on count 4 of the first indictment, being indecent assault – an immediate term of 1 and a half years imprisonment;
in respect of your offending against complainant 3, on count 5 of the first indictment, being indecent assault – an immediate term of 1 and a half years imprisonment;

On the second indictment I would also sentence you to a term of imprisonment to be served immediately. That sentence, given the circumstances of aggravation and the absence of substantial mitigation, coupled with the quality of your offending, would be seven years imprisonment but for your late plea of guilty. Taking your plea into account, on the second indictment I would impose a six year term of imprisonment to be served immediately.

That is a total of sixteen years imprisonment. However, in order to adjust these terms for proportionality and totality and to better reflect the objects of sentencing I order that the three year term of imprisonment to be served in respect of counts 4 and 5 on the first indictment be served concurrently with the three year term to be served on counts 2 and 3 of the first indictment, which leaves a total term of 7 years on the first indictment coupled with the six year term I would impose on the second indictment, giving a total of 13 years which I further moderate by ordering that, ultimately, you serve a total term of imprisonment of 12 years to be served immediately.

A sentence of this type must not be crushing, and I will make you eligible for parole. But that raises the question as to the length of the applicable non-parole period.

I have carefully considered the appropriate order to make with respect to your eligibility for parole. I have weighed all of the circumstances, bearing closely in mind the seriousness of your offending, the aggravating factors, the limited factors in mitigation, your lack of genuine remorse and insight into your offending against children, the need to vindicate your victims – whose lives have been permanently and severely altered by your conduct – and the particular need for general deterrence, against a backdrop of increasing community abhorrence of crimes such as yours. In all the circumstances I consider that justice requires you serve a minimum of eight years imprisonment. Accordingly, I order that you not be eligible for parole until you have served 8 years of your sentence.

In summary, you are sentenced in total to a term of 12 years imprisonment to be served immediately with a non-parole period of 8 years.

Pursuant to s 13A of the Family Violence Act I order that your offence in respect of indictment 317 of 2025 be recorded on your criminal record as a family violence offence.

I hereby make a Family Violence Order to remain in force for the remainder of your life unless an order is made revoking it. I now publish the order to the parties, but due to the constraints of s 194K of the Evidence Act I will not include the details of the Family Violence Order in my comments on passing sentence.

I am not satisfied that you do not pose a risk of committing a reportable offence within the meaning of that term in the Community Protection (Offender Reporting) Act 2005 in the future. I make an order directing that the Registrar cause your name to be placed on the Register and that you comply with the reporting obligations under the Act for the rest of your life.