The sentence imposed on a sexual predator who raped a sleeping teenage girl has prompted an angry reaction, with one of the victim's supporters labelling it a "f--- all" penalty.
Angus Miles Gottaas-Hughes, 23, was sentenced in the ACT Supreme Court on Friday to two years and nine months in jail after he pleaded guilty to seven serious sexual offences.
These included sexual intercourse without consent and using a child to produce exploitation material.
Justice Belinda Baker ordered him to serve 10 months of the term behind bars before the rest is suspended.
"Still f--- all, isn't it?" a woman sitting with the victim exclaimed in the public gallery as the orders were pronounced.
Gottaas-Hughes landed on the radar of police in May 2021, when a foreign law enforcement agency detected him accessing child abuse material on the internet.
Local police raided his Ainslie home in December 2021, seizing three computers and a mobile phone that were later found to contain 1381 files of child abuse material.
These included 711 videos, which ran for a combined duration of more than four days.
About half of the files were computer-generated, but the rest depicted the sexual abuse of at least 200 real children aged between eight months and 14 years.
While police were reviewing Gottaas-Hughes' devices, they made the disturbing discovery of three videos he had personally filmed at his Ainslie home in 2020.
The videos showed Gottaas-Hughes raping a sleeping teenage girl on one occasion, and indecently assaulting her in two separate incidents.
When confronted about these files, Gottaas-Hughes lied to police by saying the girl was his "friend with benefits", that she had a "kink", and that she was not actually asleep.
Justice Baker said Gottaas-Hughes had since acknowledged these statements were false, telling a psychologist he had spouted "bullshit" because he "panicked".
In relation to the internet-based child abuse material, Gottaas-Hughes told police he had been accessing it for years.
A statement of agreed facts says he told police he had paid 20 Euros to download a large amount of child abuse material during the COVID-19 lockdown period.
"Guess I haven't broken the cycle," he told investigators.
Justice Baker described the sentencing exercise in this case as a difficult one, with competing interests pulling in different directions.
On one hand, there was a remorseful young offender who had been undertaking "intensive" treatment for paedophilia and other disorders since his arrest.
Justice Baker also noted Gottaas-Hughes had become "pretty addicted" to child abuse material after being exposed to it while too young to fully grasp its destructive nature.
But on the other side of the coin was the rape victim, who had eloquently outlined the "devastating" impacts of what Gottaas-Hughes did to her while she was asleep.
The victim, who is now a young adult, read a statement at a sentence hearing earlier this month, describing herself as "truly broken".
The court also heard from people close to her about what Justice Baker described as the "ripple effect" of Gottaas-Hughes' offending.
Ultimately, Justice Baker found a period of full-time imprisonment was the only penalty that would adequately recognise the harm done to the victim and denounce the offending.
She decided to suspend most of the sentence to allow Gottaas-Hughes to restart his community-based treatment upon his release, noting the sorts of programs he required were not available behind bars.
The judge said it was in the community's interest for young offenders to reform.
"Effective rehabilitation will protect the community," Justice Baker said.
Gottaas-Hughes was also ordered to forfeit the electronic devices that contained the child abuse material to authorities.
Once he is released from custody, he will be subject to a good behaviour order that requires him to complete sex offender treatment.
The court had earlier heard his loved ones held fears about how he would cope if incarcerated, providing character references that described him as "gentle" and "shy".
Justice Baker said Gottaas-Hughes' parents were worried a custodial sentence would "destroy" their son.
Gottaas-Hughes is due to be released in February 2024.
