UNMITIGATED GALL

It seems par for the course these days that if a person goes to court and gets convicted, gets sentenced to jail, then they automatically appeal. Usually at taxpayers’ expense through Legal Aid. Sometimes those appeals are legitimate. Are important, if our system of justice is to be fair and impartial and inscrutable. If a jury has heard inadmissible evidence. Or an identification is suspect. Or a judge misdirects the jury.

But many times appeals seem increasingly cynical and show callous disregard for victims. They have to live it all again.

In my opinion there is a classic case this week. It involves a man named Stephen Peter Morrow. A former physics teacher at Melbourne Girls’ College. He is appealing against a six year jail sentence with a minimum of four.

His lawyer claims his sentence should be reduced to 18 months which is about the time he’s spent in jail so far.

Let me tell you what this man did and see if you think he was hardly done by. Frankly, I think he has unmitigated gall to even attempt a reduced sentence.

Morrow seduced one of his students after she asked him for extra tuition. He took her virginity in the back of his car while she was in her school uniform. She was 16. He was in his 40s. They had sex in the car and in motels more than 30 times.

She got pregnant, he offered to pay her $100 a week and then paid for the abortion.

A jury found Morrow guilty on nine counts of sexual penetration of a 16 or 17-year-old under his care and supervision.

County Court Judge Tom Wodak  said of Morrow: ‘… you seduced a naïve young female to pander selfishly to sexual desires. You were an experienced teacher and she was your student, a vulnerable teenager who, I am satisfied,  developed an infatuation with you which you did not discourage and most likely fostered.’

Morrow did not ever show guilt or remorse. In fact he tried to blame the girl. He claimed they only had sex once after she finished Year 12 and denied he made her pregnant. He said she was lying to get compensation. Morrow even tried to paint himself as the victim. He told the jury he had been ‘expertly misled’ and manipulated. Yeah, right. By a teenage virgin.

Morrow’s lawyer said the individual sentences Morrow received were too high. The prosecutor disagreed. He pointed out the offences were serious and committed over a long period of time.

Personally, I think four years for destroying a young girl’s teenage years, including a teenage abortion, is not too much at all. The appeal judges have reserved their decision. Watch this space.

© Copyright Derryn Hinch 2009