Left fetch join => distinct

[Jim Talbut]

Hi,

This is from the definition of a named query:
               query = "SELECT o from AssessmentImpl o "
                        + "left join fetch o.assessmentResults "
                        + "where "
                        + "o.assessmentKey.dateCreated > 
:outstandingLimit "
                        + "and o.pollResultsAttempts < :pollCountLimit "
                        + "and ("
                        + " o.resultsAvailable = true "
                        + " or o.status = AssessmentStatus.Pending "
                        + " or o.status = AssessmentStatus.InProgress "
                        + ")")

The assessmentResults field is a OneToMany join, usually fetched lazily.
For the purposes of this query I want to pull in all the 
assessmentResults so I want it eagerly and I added the "left join fetch" 
line.
Unfortunately this adds a DISTINCT to the SQL query and fails because 
one of the columns is a LOB.

Why does adding "left fetch join" make it DISTINCT?
And is there any way to avoid it?

Thanks.

Jim