Collingwood superfan ‘Joffa’ Corfe’s sentence will NOT be appealed after he avoided jail for sexually abusing a child: ‘It seems like he’s won the lotto’
The sentence given to Collingwood superfan Jeffrey ‘Joffa’ Corfe will not be appealed after he avoided prison time for sexually abuse a teenage boy.
The Age reports that prosecutors have decided not to pursue an appeal because there was not a reasonable prospect that Court of Appeal would consider the sentence to be outside the range of options at their disposal.
Corfe pled guilty to sexually abusing a Yarraville man called Alex Case in 2005, when he was 14 while Corfe was 44. He was handed a 12-month prison term, suspended for two years, meaning he will not go to jail for the historical abuse.
‘At the time the offence was committed, the Sentencing Act 1991 provided that a wholly suspended sentence was to be taken as a sentence of imprisonment,’ a spokesman for the Office of Public Prosecutions said.
‘The Court of Appeal has held that, for the purposes of appellate review, if the County Court has imposed a wholly suspended sentence it has, in effect, ordered that the offender be imprisoned.’
Jeffrey ‘Joffa’ Corfe’s suspended sentence will not be appealed, prosecutors say
The Collingwood superfan pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a teenager in 2004
Case expressed his disappointment in the decision, claiming it could have an impact on other victims coming forwards.
‘I do feel like he’s gotten away with what he did to me. I just worry about the message this sends other victims,’ he told The Age.
‘I understand why other victims stay silent. I don’t blame them – going through this is difficult, particularly because of the delays.
‘It seems like he’s won the lotto … and almost has something to celebrate, whereas I’m left with an outcome that doesn’t provide me with any closure whatsoever.’
Suspended sentences are no longer applicable for offences committed on or after May 2011, but because Corfe’s offence occurred in 2005, he was eligible for a suspended sentence.
