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Kshetiz Bhatia was “like a brother” to the parents of the child he abused – but managed to get his prison time reduced because a court concluded he did not “actively” use that position to get near his victim.

Survivors say Bhatia benefitted from a NSW law that makes it harder on some paedophiles but not others – a law they want changed.

Survivor and advocate Harrison James is pushing to have all paedophiles prevented from citing “good character” to get reduced prison time.

Bhatia, in 2021, was sentenced for abusing a six-year-old boy while his parents were at work. The parents said Bhatia was “like a brother” to them and “like an uncle” to their son. His crime is too confronting to print.

But this year Bhatia’s sentence was cut from 10 years to eight on appeal because his sentencing judge had failed to consider the paedophile’s “good character”.

The Court of Criminal Appeal heard Bhatia’s sentencing judge mistakenly applied a special law written with priests, teachers, scout leaders and other community leaders in mind.

The law in NSW, since the royal commission into child abuse, says paedophiles who use their good character to offend cannot bring up their character during sentencing. It also denies them the chance to have a lack of criminal record considered.

Relatives and family friends like Bhatia, the courts have concluded, do not fall under that law unless they “actively” abuse the trust to get left alone with children.

Another case, from late last year, heard from a survivor with the pseudonym George who was abused by his uncle for years. It left him “heartbroken” because his uncle was like a “best friend”, he told the court.

Prosecutors said the uncle had abused his position of trust and authority so should not be able to rely on his character for a lighter sentence.

But the judge disagreed the abuser got access to the victim “because he was a relative, not because he was a person of good character”.

The uncle was able to use his good character in court and received a sentence of nine years in prison.

“These abusers live double lives, they’re not really the person you read about in the character references.”

“It really is a punch in the guts,” survivor Harrison James told The Herald.

“I couldn’t think of anything more devastating than to go through such a rigorous and taxing process like court just to hear how good a person your perpetrator is.”

James, a survivor of abuse at the hands of a relative, has launched a petition asking the NSW government to change the state’s Sentencing Procedure Act. He wants character references and consideration off the table for all paedophiles.

“These abusers live double lives, they’re not really the person you read about in the character references,” James said.

NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley has no plan to amend the law, a spokesperson said, adding there was no advice from the department that the law had been applied beyond its original scope.

“Except where this [law] applies, child sex offenders are treated in the same way as any person who is sentenced for an offence, insofar as they are permitted to rely on their prior good character or lack of criminal record on sentencing,” the spokesperson said.

“The Department of Communities and Justice has advised that it is unaware of any instances of the provision acting contrary to this intention.”

No charges have been laid against James’s abuser, who left Australia.

But he said survivors face overwhelming self-doubt when they hear about how beloved their abusers are by friends and family.

“This is more than changing a piece of legislation,” he said.

“It’s about instilling confidence in survivors to pursue the justice system.

“This is one small thing we can do among a plethora of things. It’s a simple fix.”

The petition will be put before the NSW Legislative Council in August by Greens MP Abigail Boyd and has 2600 signatures.

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