South Australia's Full Court of the Court of Criminal Appeal yesterday replaced Rebecca Jane Clarke's "excessive" 12-month jail term with a two-year good behaviour bond.
The 23-year-old, of Goulburn in New South Wales, remains a convicted sex offender, but only for now.
Although
the court upheld her convictions, she has flagged a High Court
challenge so she can pursue her dream of working with disadvantaged
children.
In December 2007, Clarke was found guilty of
producing child pornography - a DVD in which she has sex with two
14-year-old girls while saying "I feel like a child molester".
In another segment of the recording, she fondles one of the girls and says "your breasts feel like a 10-year-old's".
During her trial, Clarke maintained she was innocent of any crime as she "genuinely believed" the girls were 17.
She said her victims' physiques were "of the media ideal" and "like Calista Flockhart or the Olsen twins".
Although her 12-month jail term was suspended, Clarke appealed the "excessive" penalty.
Her
lawyers told the court the sentence set a dangerous precedent for
"innocent, luckless" people who unwittingly had sex with teenagers
"made up" like adults.
Further, she wanted her convictions
overturned and her name removed from the sex offenders register so she
could seek employment as a social worker for troubled children.
In a unanimous decision yesterday, Justices Tom Gray, Michael David and Richard White ruled Clarke should be resentenced.
They set aside her 12-month jail term and imposed a two-year good behaviour bond, but upheld her conviction.
Clarke was not present for the hearing. She must attend court next week to formally accept her bond.
