In the first instance, we saw Cardinal George Pell being jailed for six years for assaulting two boys in the 1990s.

The judgment from the Melbourne County Court was broadcast live across the country, such was the enormous interest in the case.

Viewers who had not previously sat through such a judgment may have been surprised by how long it took as Chief Judge Peter Kidd methodically went through his reasons for sentencing.

The six-year sentence represents a spectacular fall from grace for the man who was previously the third highest-ranking Catholic in the world.

But more upsetting were the long-term impacts of Pell's offending on the surviving victim, spelled out in court as the judge considered an appropriate jail term.

Much closer to home, however, local readers have also seen in the past 24 hours the impact the tragedy of sexual assault can have on other family members.

The father and the grandmother of an 11-month-old baby who was assaulted and killed in Mandurama in 2014 have both spoken out about their shock and disappointment at the leniency of the sentence handed down in that case. They have clearly been broken by the experience.

Brendan Toohey, 40, is now eligible for parole having served four-and-a-half years of a seven-and-a-half-year sentence for the baby's manslaughter, along with what amounted to just an extra six months for sexually abusing the infant.

It's a tragic case in anyone's language and it is impossible not to feel for the father and grandmother who feel they have been let down by the courts.

Considered in isolation, the convictions of Pell and Toohey are just two more cases of offending against the vulnerable.

Considered together, though, they illustrate the reality that there is no easy way to profile the perpetrators of sexual assault.

They can be any age, they can come from any background and they can work in any field. They might walk the streets of the Vatican City, or they might walk the streets of Mandurama.

But all that counts for nothing for them once they're brought before the courts.

By then it doesn't matter where they've come from, all that matters is where they're going. And they'll all be equals in jail.