A terminally ill Lavington man expected to die back in January has been taken into custody in his wheelchair over the indecent assault of a teenage boy almost 40 years ago.
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Geoffrey Allen Cox, when 32, performed oral sex on the boy, aged about 13 or 14, then got the boy to do the same to him.
For that he has been jailed for nine months, with a non-parole period of three months.
Albury Local Court has heard it was highly possible that Cox could die before his jail term expired.
It was anticipated that Cox, who turned 70 the day before he was sentenced, would be most likely transferred to a hospital facility on being processed by Corrective Services NSW, either within the prison or public health systems.
"Over the years, the victim has suffered from feelings of guilt, regret and trauma as a result of what occurred," the court was told.
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Eventually, after many years had passed, the victim went to Wagga police and made a statement about the incident, which took place at Narrandera between September 13, 1981, and December 31, 1982.
The victim phoned Cox on December 7, 2017, and had a conversation that the court was told was "lawfully recorded".
During the conversation, Cox admitted to committing oral sex on him.
But he told the victim it was "just mucking around, you know, like mucking around".
"And besides, really when you think about it, we shouldn't have done it anyway because I know that I am a lot older than you. It's just one of those things. Well, boys will be boys."
Cox was arrested by Albury police on April 23, 2018, and entered guilty pleas in October to charges of indecent assault on a male and procure an act of indecency with a male.
The Director of Public Prosecutions withdrew a charge of sexual assault of a person under the age of 16 years.
Several months later, a nine-month full-time sentence was suggested.
Mr Brender said he was not willing to stray from that as "this is very serious offending".
Defence solicitor Mark Cronin said Cox was extremely ill, had suffered a fractured pelvis and had cardiac issues.
Cox was staying with the victim's father, who was a close friend, on the night of the offending.
He had drunk alcohol with the boy's father and stepmother, then went to the boy's bedroom, where the friend had offered him a place to sleep.
After talking to the boy about sex, he committed the indecent assault.
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