Meet Australia's judge Go-Lightly
A former teacher who had a relationship with a 14-year-old schoolgirl and then threatened her to stay silent has escaped jail after civil libertarian judge Ian Dearden [above] accepted the actions were at the "less serious end" of sexual offences. Attorney-General Linda Lavarch immediately set in train a possible appeal after Steven Peter Quick, 29, walked from Southport District Court, despite pleading guilty to indecently dealing with a child and taking an indecent image.
Judge Dearden said "blind Freddy" could have seen that the relationship, which included Quick filming the girl as he caressed and sucked her breasts, was "a complete no-go zone" and a jail term would normally be imposed. But Judge Dearden, a former Queensland Council of Civil Liberties president, accepted a defence submission that there were "exceptional circumstances" that warranted Quick being given a wholly suspended 18-month prison sentence and community correctional order. These included that the offences were at the "less serious end" of sexual offending, that Quick was "crippled psychologically" by his guilt and had been publicly shamed.
Quick was a maths and science teacher in central Queensland in 2004 when he formed a "close friendship" with the girl. In the September 2004 school holidays, Quick drove the girl to a location near Bundaberg, where he filmed the girl as he sucked and caressed her breasts. When the Crime and Misconduct Commission launched an investigation, Quick rang the girl and told her to lie for him or he would "come back to hurt her".
Calling for at least three months of actual jail time, Crown prosecutor Bob Falconer said Quick had "flagrantly ignored" the trust placed in him. Defence solicitor Bill Potts said while the relationship was "very inappropriate", the schoolgirl had initiated much of the contact and she and Quick had planned to run away to "a happier place".
But Judge Dearden said he accepted a psychologist's report that Quick was "crippled psychologically" with remorse, had no pedophilia tendencies, was unlikely to re-offend and did not pose a danger to the community. Judge Dearden cited a Court of Appeal decision that set a precedent for suspended sentences for indecent dealing offences in "exceptional circumstances". He told Quick the suspended sentence "should not be seen in any way as a lessening of the punishment". A spokesman for Mrs Lavarch said she had asked the Director of Public Prosecutions for a report on a possible appeal against the decision.
Report here
More on judge Dearden
Yesterday was not the first time Judge Ian Dearden has given a controversial soft sentence. In February this year, Brisbane man Brett Ashley Connor appeared before Judge Dearden charged with with possessing 90 child porn images. The judge sentenced Connor to nine months' jail wholly suspended because of mitigating factors including Connor's co-operation with authorities and the lack of apparent distribution of the images.
In March this year, brothers Shammi and Shamal Chand escaped jail in Dearden's court after pleading guilty to savagely bashing an invalid pensioner with a baseball bat. Handing both brothers wholly suspended jail sentences, Judge Dearden said he took into account their own misery following the death of their father, the difficulties Shammi Chand faced supporting his extended family and Shamal Chand's battle with drugs and mental illness.
In August last year, Judge Dearden also said he would "take a punt" on serial fraudster Julia Antonia Villiers who faced court charged with defrauding a Brisbane beauty clinic. Despite previously serving time for stealing as a servant and breaching a subpoenaed sentence, Judge Dearden handed Villiers a 12-month intensive correctional order.
Judge Dearden's appointment to the bench in February last year was criticised by Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg, who questioned how the former Queensland Council of Civil Liberties president could remain impartial.
Report here
(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today)
1 comment:
I was briefly a client of his. I had been sexually harassed at work. My employer - the University of Queensland - had told me to put up with unwanted attention from females. One - who I had complained about repeatedly - eventually threatened me explicitly in writing for refusing to date her. Then when I continued to refuse to date her she made good on her threat by falsely accusing me of harassing her.
Too bad for her she had dreadful gaydar.
Too bad for me Dearden had a very, very close relationship with my employer. Good friends with their legal officer. Studied there. Guest lectured there. Still involved with one of the colleges. He actually told me to ignore the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission who said I had a strong case. Then he did not, as promised, look over the material and get back to me. Not until the Commission accepted my complaint and told my employer. Then I heard from him - when it suited my employer.
And also the QLD Govt, because my employer's policy on sexual harassment curiously only referred staff who wanted to complain to the state anti-discrimination body. All other universities correctly identify both state and federal bodies. So I complained to the state body, who initially told me I had a strong case but when I submitted a complaint, they misrepresented it, dismissed that and refused any further communication.
Normally under Australian law the federal commission can't touch a complaint already dismissed by a state one, but maybe by doing the old straw man trick they left themselves open. I don't know. Either way the federal commission proceeded.
So he helps the Queensland government cover up their misdeeds (sexual harassment and corruption) by screwing me over and a few years later they make him a judge. Makes sense. And when he gets a case with a lecherous Queensland government employee, he goes light on them. Makes sense.
FYI my harasser eventually confessed in writing that her complaint was malicious, after my employer told her I was gay. She was at the time on probation for having attempted to strangle her ex-boyfriend. And it appears she had falsely accused one of the police officers who investigated that of sexual misconduct against her. Successfully. I've been told the Crime and Misconduct Commission found him guilty. So potentially even more government embarassment Dearden helped them to cover up.
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