N.B. Copyright in this transcript is the property of the Crown. If this transcript is
copied without the authority of the Attorney-General of the Northern Territory,
proceedings for infringement will be taken.
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THE SUPREME COURT OF
THE NORTHERN TERRITORY
SCC 21440653, 21411567
THE QUEEN
and
ROBERT LANCE PLEDGER
(Sentence)
RILEY, CJ
TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS
AT DARWIN ON WEDNESDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2015
Transcribed by:
DTI
HIS HONOUR: On 25 May 2015 you pleaded guilty to 12 charges contained in an
indictment dated that day. Each of those offences is serious.
Count 1 is that you maintained a relationship of a sexual nature with GB, a child
under the age 16 years and that you had sexual intercourse with her. The maximum
penalty for this offence is imprisonment for 20 years.
Count 2, is that you attempted to procure ML, a child under the age of 16 years
to have sexual intercourse with you, the maximum penalty for this offence is
imprisonment for 3 years.
Count 3, is that you attempted to procure another child CH to have sexual
intercourse with you and again the maximum penalty is imprisonment for 3 years.’
Counts 4-10 inclusive, are that you attempted to procure other young girls to
have sexual intercourse with you and for each of those offences the maximum
penalty is imprisonment for 3 years.
Count 4 related to BG; count 5, RW; count 6 to KR; count 7 to SK; count 8 to
PC; count 9 to BW and count 10 related to TW.
Count 11 is an offence of having had sexual intercourse with CD without her
consent and the maximum penalty for this offence is imprisonment for life.
The final count, count 12 is an offence of having had sexual intercourse with CC,
a child under the age of 16 years who was only 13 years and the maximum penalty
for this offence is imprisonment for 16 years.
The facts relevant to all these offences have been agreed. Around October
2013, when you were aged 18 years, you contacted GB, a 15 year old girl on her
Facebook account. You arranged to meet her at a shopping centre and you had
sexual intercourse with her on a ramp at the shopping complex. You had sexual
intercourse with her on six further occasions at various locations around Darwin.
You told her that you loved her and wanted to marry her and you gave her a ring. In
that way you developed in her a trust that the two of you had a future together. You
did that for your own sexual gratification. You betrayed that trust. Other than the
first occasion, you did not wear a condom. On one occasion she performed oral sex
upon you at your request.
The matter was reported to Police when the carer of GB overheard a telephone
conversation in which she talked of your relationship.
The last occasion upon which you had sexual intercourse with her was at the
Darwin golf course and following that occasion you told her that you were breaking
up with her and you sought the return of the ring. She became distressed and
threatened self-harm. She was admitted to Royal Darwin Hospital for observation.
Your victim was interviewed by Police on 28 February 2014 and told them of the
relationship. You were arrested on 6 March 2014 and you made admissions to
having sexual intercourse with her on seven occasions, knowing that she was
underage.
Police investigations revealed further offending against other complainants which
is set out in counts 2 through to 10 on the indictment. Those offences were similar in
kind. They occurred between December 2013 and March 2014. You befriended on
Facebook a large group of young girls who were friends or acquaintances of GB or
of each other. The girls were all aged between 12 and 15 years. In relation to each
girl, you tried to persuade her to engage in sexual intercourse with you.
Count 2 related to ML, who was then aged 13 years. In early December 2013
you communicated with her on Facebook and repeatedly asked her if she wanted to
have sex with you. The requests continued even after she told you that she was too
young. You told her that you loved her despite never having met her. You sent her
a sexualised short story regarding two young people engaging in sexual intercourse
at a cinema. She eventually ceased contact with you.
Count 3 related to CH, who was then aged 12 years. In mid December 2013,
you communicated with her on Facebook and asked her if she would ‘date’ you. She
accepted despite never having met you. During conversations she told you that she
was 12 years old and you responded that you wanted to have sex with her. You
sent her explicit and crude sexual messages. At your request, she provided you with
her mother’s telephone number and you called the mother. The mother told you that
the relationship was inappropriate because the child was only 12 years of age. The
mother called the Police. Nevertheless, you continued to contact the child.
Count 4 related to BG, who was then aged 13 years. Between late December
2013 and early January 2014, you communicated with her on Facebook. In the
course of those communications you asked her for sex and you did so in crude terms
referring to the size of your penis and masturbating. You also contacted her by
telephone.
Count 5 related to RW, who was 15 years of age at the time. You
communicated with her on Facebook in mid to late December 2013. You obtained
her telephone number and called her asking for nude photographs of herself. You
asked her to come to your house to have sex. Again you did so in crude terms. She
ceased contact with you.
Count 6 related to KR, who was, at the time, aged 13 years. In late December
2013 you communicated with her on Facebook and you asked her to participate in a
threesome. She told you that she was only 13. You continued to ask her to have
sexual intercourse with you and you sent her the same sexualised short story to
which I have already made reference. Eventually she blocked you on Facebook.
Count 7 related to SK, who was at the time aged 13 years. In January 2014, you
communicated with her on Facebook speaking about the size of your penis and
asking her for sexual intercourse. Shortly after this she blocked you from contacting
her.
Count 8 related to PC who was, at the time, 13 years of age. In January 2014
you contacted her on Facebook. On 27 January 2014 you spoke to her about being
‘horny’ and wanting sexual intercourse. You did so in crude terms. In a later
conversation you begged her for sex and you provided her with your telephone
number.
Count 9 related to BW, who was, at the time, 13 years of age. You had
numerous conversations on Facebook with her. You asked her to go out with you
and she refused. You offered her $75 to have sex with you and she refused.
Count 10 relates to TW who was, at the time, 13 years of age. In Facebook
conversations in January 2014, you said that you were the boyfriend of CH and you
asked her for a threesome. You also said you were masturbating. In subsequent
conversation you talked about the size of your penis and you sent her the same
sexually explicit story, to which I have referred. You asked her for sexual
intercourse.
You were arrested on 6 March 2014 and entered a record of interview in which
you made admissions to having consensual sexual intercourse with GB and you
made admissions regarding the conversations with others among your victims. You
admitted that you knew their ages and that what you were doing was wrong. You
admitted that the purpose of talking to each of them was to have sex with them.
You were initially remanded in custody but you were granted bail on 14 March
2014.
Count 11 and count 12 relate to two friends CC, who was aged 13 years, and
CD who was aged 16 years. CD suffers from a developmental disability giving her a
mental capacity estimated as equivalent to a 7 or 8 year old.
Around July 2014, while you were on bail, you had telephone contact with CC
using the name Alistair. You created a false identity to continue your criminal activity
whilst you were free on bail You exchanged text messages with her including
photographs. You sent her a picture of your penis. At your request, she sent you a
photograph of herself, naked.
On 24 August 2014, you asked her to meet you at Casuarina beach and you told
her to bring CD with her. The mother of CC drove the girls to the beach where she
met you briefly. After the meeting you walked with CC and CD along the beach and
out of sight of the mother. You went into some bushes where you started kissing CC
on the lips and then kissed CD on the lips. You asked CD, who had the
developmental disability, to ‘suck your dick’ but she did not know what to do. You
stuck your penis in her mouth and held onto the back of her head. She performed
oral sex upon you. You were kissing CC whilst this was happening. You told CC to
take off all her clothes and bend over and you put your penis inside her vagina. You
entered her from behind.
While this was happening, the mother rang and directed the girls back to the car.
You then left on your bike. CC was aged 13 years and a virgin. CD, who was 16
years of age, was unable to understand the sexual nature of the act and did not
consent.
You were arrested for the second time on 13 September 2014. Initially you
denied knowing the two girls but later admitted to sending them pictures and meeting
them at the beach. You said you believed CC was 14 years of age. You said that
you had sexual intercourse with her because she forced you to. You agreed that CD
performed oral sex upon you and you said that you believed she was 17 but you
were aware that she had a mental disability.
I have only received two Victim Impact Statements. One of those is from CH
who talked about wishing to end her life when this happened. She said that she was
left feeling unworthy and afraid to be in society. Her mother, who became aware of
the offending, developed a serious emotional stress condition and required antidepressants.
The other is from CD who said that since this happened she doesn’t trust boys at
all and that is getting ‘worse and worse’.
What is plain is that conduct such as yours will leave young victims with trust
issues. They are people who are vulnerable to persistent conduct such as that in
which you engaged and will be left with trust issues probably for the rest of their
lives. The victims are not just those young girls, but they are also the families of
those young girls who are impacted by conduct such as this and the friends of those
young girls, all of whom will be left with trust issues.
You have remained in custody since 13 September 2014. I am told that you
have spent your time in protection and I expect that will continue for some time. I
accept that your time in custody will not be easy. I have a pre-sentence report
concerning you. At the time of the report, you were aged 19 years. Of course you
are now about to turn 20. In relation to GB you told the reporting officer that she
stalked you on Facebook before you had sexual intercourse with her. I do not
accept that that was the case.
In relation to the offences of attempting to procure young girls to have sexual
intercourse with you, you said that you had a lot of friends on Facebook and you
would look at their friends’ lists to find young girls with whom to communicate. In
relation to the offences at Casuarina beach, you told the reporting officer that you
were aware that CD had developmental problems but that you could not stop
yourself.
In relation to CC, you repeatedly claimed that she forced you to have sexual
intercourse with her by threatening to tell her mother. That does not reflect the true
situation. You manipulated her to a point where she believed that there was a
relationship between you and it was in those terms, that she made comments to you.
It is an example of you not accepting the full impact of your conduct or, indeed, not
appreciating or having appropriate insight into the nature of the relationships that you
developed. You said, to the reporting officer, that you like young girls because they
are vulnerable and impressionable, and that you just wanted to have sex and you
could not stop yourself.
You were born in Darwin and raised by your parents. You have a close
relationship with your sister. Your father was, for a period and may still be on a
suspended sentence for serious sexual offences in relation to a young girl.
He indecently dealt with a 9 year old girl and he also possessed child abuse
material. I am told that, although your parents live in the one house, or at least did at
the time of the report, they are separated. Records reveal that your mother was a
heavy consumer of alcohol at the time of her husband’s offending. It appears that
she has significantly reduced her alcohol intake since that time. I am pleased to see
her in court here to support you. It cannot be an easy time for her.
I am told that you attended high school in Darwin and left part way into year 11.
You have worked as a labourer building sheds and in landscaping.
I have received a psychological assessment in relation to you. The information
provided to the Psychologist by you included that you find your mother supportive
but that you ‘hate’ your father. You were not concerned when he was arrested. You
said you were not a smart student at school and your father withdrew you from
school half way through year 10 to work with him in his gardening business. You
later resumed your education but withdrew towards the end of the school year.
Eventually you took work in your father’s gardening business again for a period. You
later obtained employment at a pool shop but you were fired for not obtaining your
driver’s licence. At the time of your arrest you had been working with Stratco.
You told the Psychologist that you have had a series of relationships with age
appropriate females but that you were attracted to girls between the ages of 12 and
15 years. You told the Psychologist that you began a relationship with GB and you
were aware of her emotional problems, her vulnerability, and you told her that you
might want to marry her to continue having sex with her. This was clearly
manipulative conduct.
After your release from prison on bail, you were bound by a condition that you
were not to contact girls under the age of 21 years on Facebook. Nevertheless, you
did so by adding CC to your list of Facebook friends. You said you did so because
you needed someone to talk to. The Psychologist formed the opinion that you did
not accept full responsibility for your behaviour. Your insight and awareness of the
impact of your offending was said to be extremely limited. You knew that what you
were doing was wrong but you could not articulate why. You displayed no
understanding of the effect of your conduct on these young girls.
At present the Psychologist reports that you do not have any strategies to
manage your risk factors in the community. The Psychologist expressed the opinion
that you are a moderate risk to reoffend. This, of course, is a speculative
assessment in all the circumstances. However, in light in your advice that you have
difficulty in controlling your impulses and refraining from offending, the report
suggested that you remain a risk of further offending. It was recommended that you
receive appropriate interventions to address your underlying issues.
In addition I have two psychiatric reports in relation to you. The first was dated
May 2014 and followed the first set of offences, the second was dated August 2015
and was written when you were in custody. The Psychiatrist recorded that you were
not a sexual abuse victim and, at the time of your first offending, substance abuse
was not relevant. You were said to be a person of normal intelligence with no
significant cognitive deficits. The Psychiatrist recorded that you were not only young
in age but very young emotionally. He observed that, although you were aware of
your father’s offending, that was not directly relevant to your own offending. His
offending was of a quite different kind.
At the time of your later offending, it was said that you were consuming
significant quantities of alcohol. The Psychiatrist said that you were psychologically
immature and that you would benefit from individual counselling.
As I have noted you have had age appropriate relationships. The Psychologist,
in her report, said this:
It is, however, unclear at this juncture whether Mr Pledger’s sexual offending
represents an inherent hebephilia sexual drive in which he is primarily attracted
to young pubescent girls or is representative of his current psychological
shortcomings, social inadequacies and immaturity.
Those observations are reflected in the psychiatric reports as well. Neither the
Psychologist nor the Psychiatrist thought that you could be diagnosed, at this time,
as a paedophile.
Your offending may arise out of the matters that the Psychologist mentioned in
the passage I just quoted. Whether you do have paedophilic tendencies will only be
seen with time but, at the moment, it seems likely that it is more to do with your
immaturity, your social inadequacies and your psychological shortcomings rather
than any paedophilic tendencies. Again, this will become clearer as time goes on.
The Psychiatrist observed that you are a young man but you have time to mature
psychologically.
In all the circumstances, I do not regard you as being without prospects of
rehabilitation. However, at the moment, and particularly considering the second lot
of offending following your initial period in custody, the risk of you reoffending must
be assessed as very real. This may change during your time in prison. I trust that
you will take all offers of rehabilitation provided to you during that time. When you
become eligible to apply for parole, the Parole Board will, I am sure, be very
interested in the efforts that you have made to rehabilitate yourself. It will be very
interested in the courses you have undertaken and the counselling you have had
and in the effect that those matters have had on your development.
Personal deterrence is obviously a significant factor in determining an
appropriate sentence.
This offending was obviously serious and The Criminal Code makes such
conduct illegal in order to deter older people from taking advantage of the immaturity
of young people and exercising control over them for the own sexual gratification. It
is intended to protect young people from being preyed upon by older people and
from entering into sexual relations before they are mature enough to do so or to have
weighed up the possible consequences of doing so.
These matters have recently been discussed in the Court of Criminal Appeal in
Rv Tulloch (2013) Northern Territory Court of Criminal Appeal 6 and in the earlier
case of the R v JO (2009), 24 Northern Territory Law reports 129. In that case, the
Court of Criminal Appeal said this:
‘Every offence against a child is a serious offence. Sexual assaults against
children are abhorrent crimes which cause grave disquiet throughout the
community. In recent years the community has come to recognise that these
offences are far more prevalent than previously was thought to be the situation.
The community has reached a more enlightened understanding of the nature of
sexual crimes and the personal violation involved in all such crimes. Including
those previously regarded as relatively minor offences. The impacts of these
types of crimes are now better recognised and understood, particularly the long
term effects upon victims who were children at the time of the offending.
Children are among the most vulnerable members of our community and are
entitled to the full protection of the law. General deterrence is a matter of
particular importance together with the denunciation of the community through
the imposition of condign punishment.’
An example of what the Court was there talking about, and an example of the impact
of such offending upon young people, is to be seen from the information provided
regarding your victim GB. She was unable to handle the consequences of your
sexual manipulation. She was so distressed that she ended up in Royal Darwin
Hospital for observation.
The offending, in your case, is made the more serious because of the difference
in age and maturity between yourself and your victims and more importantly, that
you actively pursued them in a predatory way. They were each vulnerable for one
reason or another. You manipulated them, you were very persistent and you
manipulated them emotionally. You were not interested the particular young girl but
rather you were pursuing any young girl with whom you could manage to
communicate on Facebook. You did so in a manner that showed persistence and a
strong determination to achieve sexual gratification without any thought for the
welfare of the young girls involved.
In determining an appropriate sentence in relation to each of these matters I give
emphasis to general deterrence, protection of the community, punishment and the
need to reflect the abhorrence felt by the community by conduct such as yours.
I turn to sentence you. You will be convicted on each count:
In relation to count 1, the offence of maintaining a sexual relationship with GB,
but for your plea of guilty I would have sentenced you to imprisonment for 4 years.
In light of the plea, I sentence you to imprisonment for 3 years.
In relation to counts 2 to 10, I think the same sentence should be imposed in
relation to each such count. Given that this offending constitutes a course of
conduct, there is a need for some concurrency. Although the circumstances of each
offence varies, it seems to me that I should impose the same sentence.
In relation to each of those counts, but for your plea of guilty, I would have
sentenced you to imprisonment for 4 months but in light of the plea, I sentence you
to imprisonment for 3 months. I direct that the sentences be served cumulatively
upon each other to the extent of 2 months giving a sentence of imprisonment for 18
months in relation to these 9 counts.
In relation to count 11, the unlawful sexual intercourse with CD, constituted by
oral sex, but for your plea of guilty I would have sentenced you to imprisonment for 4
years but in light of the plea, I sentence you to imprisonment for 3 years.
In relation to count 12, having had penile/vaginal sexual intercourse with CC, but
for your plea of guilty I would have sentenced you to imprisonment for 4 years, in
light of the plea, I sentence you to imprisonment for 3 years.
All of the offending amounted to a course of conduct on your part over a
significant period of time. I have already allowed some concurrency in relation to
counts 2 to 10. It seems to me that further concurrency is called for in all the
circumstances. In addition, I need to take into account the totality principal. I do this
in the following way:
I direct that the combined sentences in relation to counts 2 to 10, be served
cumulatively upon the sentence in relation to count 1 to the extent of 6 months,
giving a sentence in relation to that offending of imprisonment for 3 years and 6
months.
I direct that the sentence in relation to count 12 be served accumulatively on that
in relation to count 11 to the extent of 18 months giving a combined sentence of
imprisonment for that offending of 4 years and 6 months. That leaves a total head
sentence of imprisonment for 8 years. I have had a further look at that sentence and
I regard it as an appropriate sentencing in all the circumstances. I set a non-parole
period of 5 years and 8 months. The sentence will be deemed to have commenced
on 5 September 2013.
That was a complex and convoluted sentence, if you need further access to the
information you can get that through my associate.
And is there anything arising?
MR NATHAN: No, your Honour.
MR READ: Just that this gives a total effective sentence of 8 years and non-parole
period of 5 years and 8 months?
HIS HONOUR: That is correct.
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