The Court: Ballarat Magistrates Court
The Lawyer: Benjamin Smith
The Charges:
The Allegations:
The client had been on the Sex Offenders Register for eight years for a registrable offence he had committed previously. When a person becomes a registrable offender, the court must provide written notice (section 50 notice) of their reporting obligations, the length of their reporting obligations and the notice also contains the consequences if there is a failure to report any of the obligations. One of the details our client was required to report was his motor vehicle details.
Five years into the registration, our client purchased a new vehicle and did not report the details of the new motor vehicle to the police. The purchase was discovered during a routine police check with Vicroads, and the client was subsequently charged with Breaching his Reporting Obligations under the Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004.
At Court:
The client instructed our solicitor to enter a guilty plea to the offence at court. Submissions were made to the presiding Magistrate regarding the offending. Our solicitor submitted that the client had faultlessly met his sex offender registration obligations for five years with no issues. Factors such as why he was on the registry, his family situation and his work obligations were put to the court.
Our solicitor further submitted that the client did not willfully ignore his obligations to report the motor vehicle, but rather misunderstood the reporting obligations concerning the car. This was the client’s first breach in over five years, and he was remorseful for the offence, hence his early plea of guilty.
The Outcome:
The Magistrate accepted our solicitor’s submissions and imposed a financial penalty of $700 with no conviction recorded. Since many Magistrates take a very dim view of any breaches of the Sex Offenders Registration Act, this was a good outcome.
