A landscaper who fathered a child with an underage girl has avoided time behind bars after a judge found there was little to suggest his behaviour had been predatory or manipulative.
Darcy Edward Page, 22, was sentenced in the ACT Supreme Court on Monday afternoon to a wholly suspended term of two years in jail.
Justice John Burns also imposed a good behaviour order for the same length of time, and directed Page to complete 300 hours of community service.
Page pleaded guilty earlier this year, following negotiations with prosecutors, to a single count of maintaining a sexual relationship with a child between mid-2018 and early 2019.
On Monday, Justice Burns said this offence had involved 30 "episodes" of sexual intercourse over about nine months, with the victim later giving birth to a child.
Page was 19 at the time of the offending, while his victim was only 15.
"You were an adult, albeit a young adult, and the victim was still very much a child," Justice Burns told the Greenway man.
The judge said the victim had been a willing participant in the relevant sexual activity, though there had been a dispute about one particular act in November 2018.
Page claimed the victim had consented to it, but the victim said otherwise.
Justice Burns said it would have been an aggravated feature of the offending if Page had gone ahead with this act knowing the victim did not want it to happen, but he was unable to be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that this was the case.
The judge told Page, however, that the victim's willingness did not mitigate the offence because the girl, being underage, lacked the capacity to legally consent.
"You knew the age of the victim, and that what you were doing was legally and morally wrong," he said.
MORE COURT AND CRIME NEWS:
- Sacked former Raider pleads not guilty as Kokomo's punch case hits court
- Former bikie boss has sentence for violent extortion attempt cut
- Driver punished for speeding at cop before trying to hide in river
- Fatal crash driver claims sleep defence in conviction appeal
- Problematic gambler on street with bloodstained knife after 'frenzied' killing
Justice Burns said while there was a significant age gap between Page and the victim, it was not as great as that seen in many other cases.
He also said he was satisfied Page and the victim felt a degree of genuine affection for each other at the relevant time, though the victim now felt regret and harboured bitterness towards the offender.
After looking at contemporaneous messages between the pair, Justice Burns found there was little to suggest predatory behaviour or manipulation on Page's part.
He also believed Page had shown remorse, and was unlikely to reoffend in a similar way.
Ultimately, the judge said he did not agree with prosecutor Andrew Chatterton that Page should be locked up.
"Not all sexual relationships between a 19-year-old male and a 15-year-old female call for the imposition of a period of full-time imprisonment," he said.
Mr Chatterton indicated the Crown would file a notice declining to proceed with a number of other charges, meaning Page was free to walk out of court without spending time behind bars.
