Confessed paedophile Maurice Van Ryn is set to be resentenced following a clerical error during the Director of Public Prosecutions’ appeal process in February.
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The High Court of Australia on Friday ordered the resentencing take place in the Court of Criminal Appeal (CCA), after an an application to reopen his sentencing was refused by the Supreme Court of NSW’s Court of Criminal Appeal in August.
The appeal was sparked by an error where the court referred to the “wrong offence provision, maximum penalty and standard non-parole period when re-sentencing” in February this year in a “document prepared by the Crown”, the judgement said.
Crown prosecutor Sally Dowling SC drew the court to the attention of the error in June.
A spokesperson for the victims’ families said this week “it is time to draw a line under this case and allow all the victims and families to heal”.
“Even a minor reduction in the length of sentence would feel like Van Ryn had achieved some sort of victory, and that is something he in no way deserves,” the spokesperson said.
“Many of us (families of the victims) feel that this matter of Van Ryn's length of sentence has already been considered, at length, on two occasions by the CCA in NSW.
“Firstly, when his sentence was almost doubled on appeal, and secondly, when the clerical error in the charges was identified, triggering a further re-examination of his length of sentence.
“The CCA re-affirmed at the second appeal that the effect of the clerical error should not reduce Van Ryn's length of incarceration.
“We therefore call upon the CCA to reconfirm that, even though one of the 17 charges might have had a minor technical error, it does not diminish the hurt and suffering this man has caused and therefore the sentence of 13 and a half years in jail is appropriate and should stand.”
An article by Melbourne Law School professor Jeremy Gans in October revealed Van Ryn’s February appeal was the first time since that of notorious priest Vincent Gerard Ryan in 2001 where the sentencing of paedophiles was examined in detail in the High Court.
While the High Court has confirmed Van Ryn will be resentenced, it is not expected he will receive a significant reduction to his sentence of 13 years and six months, if any at all.
