Rare sentence imposed for child pornography

Our client was a 75-year-old man charged with being in possession of child exploitation material and other obscene articles. After reviewing the disclosure material and instructions given by our client, we advised him to plead guilty to the charges. At sentencing in the District Court, we argued that given our client’s flawless antecedents, previous good character and the impact of any term of imprisonment on his elderly wife, he was not a vehicle for general or specific deterrence and did not mandate the ordinary standard of an immediate sentence of imprisonment. The sentencing judge agreed with our strong submissions and imposed a conditionally suspended term of imprisonment, an exceptionally rare outcome for offending of this type.