Paedophile Stephen Leonard Mitchell appeals ACT Supreme Court jail sentence

In May, Justice David Mossop sentenced Stephen Leonard Mitchell to 13 years and five months behind bars, with a nine-year non-parole period.

The man, aged in his late 50s, had previously pleaded guilty to seven charges relating to multiple victims.

A notice of appeal, filed to the court in September, alleges Justice Mossop erred by applying the incorrect and substantially higher maximum penalty to three counts of persistent sexual abuse of a child.

As a result lawyers for Mitchell are seeking the sentences imposed for those particular charges be quashed, and the offender be resentenced for the crimes.

Mitchell had been charged with the territory's first ever persistent sexual abuse of a child offence, following the advocacy of 2021 Australian of the Year Grace Tame.

Mitchell sexually abused six different girls between 1994 and 2008, committing sexual offences against them in the ACT, NSW and overseas.

Mitchell worked as a professional rock climbing coach for much of this time and trained the majority of his victims.

His victims read impact statements to the ACT Supreme Court in May, when many of them told of suicide attempts and ongoing mental health issues as a result of the abuse.

They detailed their families being groomed and manipulated by Mitchell, who turned their childhood memories into "scarred, distorted nightmares".

"I feel like a soldier who was captured by the enemy, tortured, broken and abused and not put back together," one victim said.

Another victim first met Mitchell when she was only nine. When she was 11 in 1994, Mitchell first sexually abused her. This would continue for years.

The other five victims met Mitchell through his position as a rock climbing coach, or via the Police Community Youth Club in the ACT where he worked as youth activities coordinator.

Two of the victims were only nine when they first met Mitchell and he started coaching them.

Another girl was first coached by Mitchell in 1997, when she was 12. The offender would end up taking her to the United States to compete in rock climbing championships.

READ ALSO:

In handing down the sentence, Justice Mossop described how the victims suffered "long-lasting and fundamental effects" from the abuse, including anxiety, lack of trust, and a lack of self-worth.

He said they also suffered guilt at "allowing themselves to be cultivated by the offender", and how there were significant flow-on effects for the victims' parents, siblings, partners and children.

While he described prison as a "blunt instrument", a significant sentence was required to recognise the harm caused, Justice Mossop stated.

"The nature and duration of these sexual relationships is important in assessing the gravity of the offending," he said.

The case is set to return to court at a later date.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: