Sentencing - Are they too harsh/lenient?

Thorswrath - 12 Nov 20 5:21 PM

JASB - 12 Nov 20 11:59 AM

Thorswrath - 7 Nov 20 7:30 PM

Simmo - 5 Oct 20 3:42 AM

How do you feel about sentencing as a whole (not just custodial sentences)?. Are they always fair and just? Every case is judged on its own individual merits but can sentences at times be unduly lenient or way too harsh, and what impact does a sentence have on a persons drive to rehabilitate? Share your own experiences.

I think for people in my boat being a RSO for a non contact related offense ie: internet based images, it's not necessarily the sentence itself that is harsh, its the repercussions and the reality of living life after the fact.

The social impact is immense, the impact on family is immense and the impact on career and mental health moving forward is severe. Then in order to rehabilitate, you must somehow manage some kind of stability through all of that often with pre-existing mental health matters to contend with. and come out of it with a family, a job, social activities etc as these are some of the things they look at to manage and assess your risk. Personally it's a tall order however i'm lucky enough to be in work, i have some good friends and a social outlet all be it a 12 step meeting but it's still social and mixing with people, my relationship with my father has improved a lot but the prospects for romance are grim if i am honest so i don't dwell on it. I'm a lone soldier and that's the cards i've been dealt.

I received a 3 year community order and i found probation to be helpful, i know some other people aren't as lucky. I had people that although didn't condone the offense and were quick to keep me accountable, they also promoted the positive steps i made.
I believe receiving an indefinite SHPO however, was too harsh, it means i will have an unspent conviction for 15 years as whilst you have a SHPO you also have to be on the SOR. The sentencing guidelines for a community order of 3 years is 5 years on the register so i am hoping when 5 years is up i can get the judge to terminate the SHPO and bring the time on the register inline with the sentencing guidelines.

I know i am not a risk to people, especially children. I have nothing to do with them (Children) i could never commit a contact offense and i certainly never want to go back to my old behaviour that lead me to committing an internet offense, ive also been free of cocaine and porn for 5 years now and done a lot of research on porn addiction, therapy etc dealing with past traumas and i'm part of the drug recovery community through my 12 step program. If i can get that across i am hoping they see those as positives .

I've been through the media, public humiliation and a suicide attempt but i've also shared a stage with a survivor of CSA and spoken to 100 people about my past and what lead me to offend, i've sat in rooms full of addicts and seen amazing transformations but also sad news when a person relapses and overdoses. For people who think getting a community order for this kind of offense is a walk in the park or a 'slap on the wrist' then ask yourself would you survive and manage to find a reason to keep on going ? because there are those for whom it's too much and rather than try to deal with it they take their own life and some people might say 'good' they don't deserve their life, but what if they come out the other end, get through it and manage to put something good back into society.

Hi
I applaud the work you have done in rehabilitating yourself and the selfless manner of allowing yourself to be "seen" in order to assist others. My thoughts concerning the differentiation between contact - non contact (images) based offences have been voiced here before and that I do not attempt to attribute severity to either as both have victims.

I prefer to try and understand the individual and their acceptance of an offence and so focus on their strategy and targets to become a human being whose aim is to be offence free. This is so I may gain knowledge from the experience of others in my strategy to remain offence free.

We are "Human Beings" first and therefore have faults. Managing, and so controlling (as you cannot fully eliminate) our emotions and psychological controls can be achieved but there is not a project end date. Even non-offenders have to monitor these elements of our design. As a Human being who has experienced the "loss of control" to commit an offence, I now emphasise a higher level of thought processing in recognising new and old "inappropriate" scenarios in the same manner as any other "choice" process. Achieving this does not mean I have formulated a solution to end them but it does allow me say " I will not commit another offence"; though many who do not really know me will disbelieve me; and wait for my obituary for proof.

We all have or are being punished by elements of society that is possibly lead / manipulated by "likes or un-likes", and beliefs that are formed but not informed by them One belief I think all of us who come here have to learn is that:

Self imposed punishment does not lead to purity of mind or body

take care and offer "rewards" to yourself when a target is achieved not further punishment.

Thanks for your kind words.

You are right that self imposed punishment does not lead to purity of mind or body and it does take a while to learn how to be kind to yourself again. These days I'm very much focused on my career path and my hobbies to keep me 'focused', having support is also crucial, someone you can phone up and say 'hey i'm feeling a bit out of sorts today'

The whole 'likes and unlikes' thing is something i'm glad to be rid of, not been on social media now for 5 years and really don't miss it... what ever happened to just ringing someone up for a chat? i found the likes of face book to add to my mental health problems, i think many people could benefit from staying away from those platforms, especially the younger folk.

I count myself lucky to have grown up in the late 1980's and early 90's when going out in the woods and playing knock down ginger and brittish bulldog were how we used to get our kicks. these days so many of the younger generation spend way too much time on the internet and my point is where mental health is negatively affected this opens the door for poor coping behaviours which can often lead to being on the wrong side of the law. So being able to almost revert back to a more traditional way of thinking has helped me a lot because i feel when we've been through the wringer we start to appreciate some of the more simpler things in life.