AUSTRALIA
Sydney Morning Herald
Rachel Browne
Light sentences for people convicted of historical sexual offences against children could “undermine community confidence in the administration of justice”, the chairman of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse will tell a conference of leading legal professionals.
In the second part of a presentation about justice for victims, Peter McClellan raised concerns about sentencing historical offenders in accordance with standards at the time of the crime.
Research commissioned by the royal commission found it can take decades for people abused as children to report to authorities. In one case, almost 52 years passed between the offence and the sentencing of the perpetrator.
“In most Australian jurisdictions, an offender is sentenced with reference to the sentencing standards in existence at the time of the offending. There are a number of concerns with this practice,” Justice McClellan will say in a keynote address to the Modern Prosecutor Conference in Melbourne on Thursday.
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