The use of references in criminal sentencing has come under scrutiny after revelations an outdated character reference was provided to help defend child-sex offender Jeffrey "Joffa" Corfe without his former employer's knowledge.
The well-known former Collingwood cheer squad member escaped jail time last week when he was sentenced to a 12-month wholly suspended prison term.
It comes after Corfe pleaded guilty in September 2022 to sexually abusing Melbourne man Alex Case when he was 14-years-old.
After receiving several character references on Corfe's behalf, Victorian County Court Judge Gerard Mullaly told the 62-year-old "powerful testimonials" that demonstrated his "life-long commitment to helping others" were relied upon when deciding his fate.
One was written by former fundraising general manager with the Epilepsy Foundation, Jeremy Maxwell, who wrote a character reference for Corfe in May 2021 without knowing it would later be used to help him avoid jail time in a sexual abuse case.
"I'd just done a number of general character references for Joffa over the years," he recalled.
Mr Maxwell said he was shocked to discover his references had been used in court proceedings last week.
"I was really disappointed that no one had asked me or told me it was happening or anything," he said.
He said if he had known how it would be used, he never would have provided it.
Character references are letters written to the court from upstanding community members in support of a convicted person, and can be used to explain their past good deeds or personal circumstances.
The court also heard a character reference from Father Bob Maguire. His charity has since said while it did provide a reference for Corfe, it was not supplied for sentencing purposes.
The revelation that old references were provided to court without knowledge has sparked outrage and calls for prosecutors to appeal the sentence.
Corfe's victim, Melbourne man Alex Case, has slammed the references.
"I find it both concerning and offensive he could provide these character references... given the weight that was given to them," Mr Case said.
"I question how often it has happened in other cases."
Sentencing process under fire amid calls for appeal
University of New South Wales criminology researcher Michael Salter said the issue raised important questions about the sentencing process.
"The fact character references have been supplied to the court in this case that were not written with the intention of being used in a criminal matter raises fundamental probity questions," he said.
"How is it that the victim needed to sign a statutory declaration to submit their victim impact statement but the offender in this case appears to be able to provide character refers with really no checks in place to make sure they are fit for purpose.
"It certainly seems we are missing a step in the process and that needs to be addressed urgently.
He said any character references with "irregularities" should trigger the Office of Public Prosecutions to lodge an appeal over Corfe's sentence.
"An appeal needs to be foremost in the mind of the Office of Public Prosecutions and the community needs to be assured that when child sexual abuse matters are brought to the court, they're being taken with appropriate seriousness," he said.
In a statement, the Office of Public Prosecutions said "responsibility for documents put before the court rests with the party relying on that document".
The Director of Public Prosecutions has until the end of the month to appeal the decision.
