The maximum sentence for the crime of sexual penetration of a child in Victoria is 15 years imprisonment.<\/p>\n
But Jaiden Fidge, a convicted child sex offender who was jailed for just under five years for that crime after he lured a 14-year-old girl into the dark at a party<\/a>, says his term is \u201cmanifestly excessive\u201d.<\/p>\n The 24-year-old was sent away for four years and nine months in March this year after pleading guilty to the attack on the Year 8 student at a party on Victoria\u2019s Surf Coast in 2024.<\/p>\n The Toowoomba-based man was in Victoria in February 2024 when he and his co-offender, 26-year-old Riley Smith, sexually assaulted the girl after she told them she was only 14.<\/p>\n The Victorian County Court previously heard that Fidge penetrated the girl from behind while \u201cat the same time\u201d Smith \u201cput his penis in the victim\u2019s mouth\u201d.<\/p>\n Once done, the men went back to the party, where they boasted to others.<\/p>\n \u201cYou, Mr Fidge, boasted to other members of the party that you and Mr Smith had \u2018put the victim on a spit\u2019. You made the same comment again at a later point,\u201d Judge Gerard Mullaly told him.<\/p>\n \u201cThese were the words that described the victim as an object with little or no value other than the joint depraved sexual gratification of you and the co-accused.\u201d<\/p>\n Fidge was back in court this week to appeal his sentence on the grounds that an \u201caggravating feature\u201d of the crime \u2014 that the two offenders planned or decided to jointly violate the victim \u2014 \u201cwas neither alleged or otherwise proven\u201d.<\/p>\n Court of Appeal Justice Kristen Walker, in her judgment published on Tuesday, referred to the sentencing judge\u2019s remarks that it was \u201cself-evident\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cSelf-evidently, the fact that you both sexually penetrated the victim at the same time, significantly elevates the seriousness of this offending,\u201d the judgment reads.<\/p>\n \u201cPlainly you had, even if just a little earlier, planned or decided you would both violate her concurrently; that was your aim. <\/p>\n \u201cWhile as I noted earlier, this crime can be committed in a variety of ways and in a variety of circumstances, it is rare that a child is violated simultaneously by two men.\u201d<\/p>\n Fidge\u2019s lawyers also appealed on the grounds that the sentencing judge had failed to apply the principle of parity between the co-offenders and that his sentence was manifestly excessive \u2014 including the non-parole period of just three years.<\/p>\n Justice Walker said the claim about parity \u201cis hopeless\u201d. <\/p>\n \u201cThe judge plainly had regard to the question of parity,\u201d she wrote. <\/p>\n \u201cThis argument is entirely misguided in circumstances where the judge applied the principle of parity by imposing on the two co-offenders exactly the same sentence for their joint offending.\u201d<\/p>\n She said the proposition that the jail term Fidge was given is manifestly excessive is \u201cunsustainable\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThere can be no doubt the applicant\u2019s offending was extremely serious in nature,\u201d Justice Walker wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cHe lured a 14-year-old child to an isolated area, away from others. He knew how old she was, but he nonetheless initiated sexual contact and persisted after Smith approached and removed the victim\u2019s lower clothing. <\/p>\n \u201cHe then penetrated her vagina with his penis, without wearing a condom. He was also aware that, at the same time, Smith penetrated her mouth with his penis. <\/p>\n \u201cIndeed, after the event, he boasted to others on two occasions that he and Smith had \u2018put [the victim] on the spit\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cIt may be accepted that the penetration was of short duration and did not involve violence beyond the act of penetration itself. But that does not significantly mitigate its seriousness.\u201d<\/p>\n She said that \u201cnone of the grounds the applicant seeks to advance on his application for leave to appeal have any prospects of success\u201d.<\/p>\n News.com.au previously reported that Fidge, an Australian Rules football player with the University Cougars in the Queensland-based Darling Downs competition, was awarded the 2025 medal for the league\u2019s Best and Fairest player.<\/p>\n AFL Queensland initially said it would not revoke the medal, despite the fact that Fidge was playing while awaiting trial for a serious crime allegedly perpetrated against a child.<\/p>\n