NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman has agreed to review the transcript of a case involving a convicted paedophile who was sentenced to a maximum of five years behind bars.
Mr Speakman said he would further review the case of 67-year-old former Bega man Neil Duncan, who was sentenced on Friday after being found guilty in June of sexually touching three girls under the age of 16 in 2019.
Sydney's Downing Centre District Court Judge Robyn Tupman sentenced Duncan to a non-parole period of two-and-a-half years.
In a statement to the ABC, Mr Speakman said he would review the sentencing transcript.
"I have requested the transcript of the sentencing hearing in the matter," Mr Speakman said on Tuesday.
"I have also asked the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions if it will consider an appeal in relation to the sentence handed down."
Victims' advocate Howard Brown said he welcomed news of the review.
"It will be interesting to see if the DPP do launch an appeal," he said.
In a statement to the ABC, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions confirmed it was considering appealing Duncan's sentence.
It comes after Mr Speakman requested in June that the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions review the decision to grant Duncan bail after his conviction.
That prompted changes in state laws.
Convicted criminals now face full-time prison and are unable to be released on bail prior to sentencing, unless special or exceptional circumstances are found.
During sentencing on Friday, Judge Tupman slammed what she called "inaccurate" media coverage of the case, especially surrounding an unproven allegation of a bail breach at a pony club event near Duncan's new home of Tamworth.
The court heard Duncan assaulted two of the girls during camping trips to areas with no mobile phone reception, where he would place his victim's swags next to his at night before sexually touching them under the cover of darkness.
"What happens in the bush stays in the bush," he told one girl, before telling her not to tell her mother.
"I don't bite," he told the same girl as she cried during an assault.
Another victim was 10 years old at the time.
Judge Tupman told the court Duncan's offending was "opportunistic and not premeditated" and said references tendered by his defence team described him as a "considerate and reliable person".
The court heard Duncan had owned the largest goat meat export company in the world, Western Exporters in the rural Queensland town of Charleville, before he sold it in 2012 and retired in the south east NSW town of Bega.
Editor's Note 9/11/2022: This story has been amended to clarify comments made by Mr Speakman about the handling of the case.
