A 30-year-old man was fined $9,000 in Mudgee Local Court last week, for failing to comply with his reporting obligations under the Child Protection (Offenders Registration) Act.
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Michael Edward Curry of Bellevue Road, Mudgee, has a lifetime requirement to complete an annual report to police, within each January calendar month.
At 2pm on Sunday, February 2, 2020, he called and then attended Mudgee Police Station to report.
It was noted that he was required to do so earlier, but Curry claimed that he'd been working in Sydney and had missed his reminder in his phone.
This was despite the fact that in January he had attended Mudgee Local Court - next door to the Police Station - where he appeared on a driving matter.
In the police facts submitted to the court for sentence, it was noted that Curry had also failed to report in 2019 and was subsequently charged. Furthermore, in 2017 and 2018 he was also late to complete the reporting - doing so in February both times - however had offered reasons that had been accepted by police.
When sentencing the defendant, Magistrate Alexander Mijovich told him, "it still hasn't gelled with you what you need to do". And that with regards to the repeat offending, "the reality is I'm not sending you up to farm, you're sending yourself up to farm".
In handing down the $9,000 penalty, his honour said that the amount represented approximately three-quarters of the maximum available for the offence. Which he said was a "substantial fine", but was also "a direct alternative to six months jail".