THE penalties for adults who sexually abuse children need a significant amount of work, according to the head of the Wangaratta Centre Against Violence.
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A 20-year-old North East man recently avoided jail for the persistent sexual abuse of a 13-year-old girl.
Shawn Wilkinson will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life for persistently sexually abusing a child under 16, child pornography possession and breaching notices and orders.
The relationship was discovered when the victim’s father read text messages and reported the matter to police.
But he avoided jail for the offending, and will instead undertake 200 hours of community work on a three year corrections order.
Centre Against Violence chief executive Kerry Burns did not want to comment directly on the case.
But she said society needed to protect children under 16, who can't give informed consent.
“I think at the moment, the messaging is way too soft, especially when the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has shown the harm caused,” she said.
“We’ve heard directly from victims – we’ve heard what happens and how it’s affected their lives, and it’s been devastating.”
Ms Burns said there were cases where the community agreed with sentences, and those where it did not.
“I think we’ve got a great deal of work to do in that area,” she said.
“We need to be able to agree together on a range of penalties when an adult has sex with a child.
“It’s clear the age of consent for sexual relationships is 16 in Victoria.
“When an adult – any person aged 18 – seeks out a sexual relationship with a child, their behaviour is that of a sex offender.
“It’s an important principle to maintain.
"The penalty has to be applied to serve the safety of society as a priority.”
In sentencing Wilkinson in the county court, Judge James Montgomery said he needed to balance the interests of the community, denounce the behaviour and ensure offenders were rehabilitated.
Wilkinson, who was born in Wangaratta and lives in Benalla, was found to be emotionally similar to an adolescent.
A psychologist found he wasn't “locked into a deviance where he is seeking out vulnerable children to have sexual encounters with".
But Wilkinson was also found to be of moderate risk of committing further sex offences.