Sex offences are very serious crimes.
Fortunately, Josh Smith Legal have extensive expertise in defending all types of sex offences in the Magistrates Court and the County Court. We have beaten serious sex charges in court and negotiated for all types of sex charges to be withdrawn or downgraded.
Call our experienced criminal lawyers now if you have been charged or investigated for a sex offence of any kind so that we can start work right away and protect your future.
Sex offences:
There are various types of sex offences in Victoria, such as:
- Rape.
- Sexual assault.
- Sexual activity directed at another.
- Child pornography offences.
There are many, many more types of sex offences and the penalties for each vary a lot.
Rape:
There are a couple of elements to a charge of Rape which have to be proven by police. The key essential elements are:
- Sexual penetration between Person A and Person B; and
- A lack of consent to the penetration from person B; and
- Person A did reasonably believe that Person B was consenting to the penetration.
Penalties:
The penalties for Rape charges are very severe – the maximum penalty is 25 years jail, but there is also what is called a ‘standard sentence’, which is the standard sentence imposed by the courts for a Rape conviction. The standard sentence for Rape charges is 10 years.
Current statistics also show that 95.4% of people convicted of Rape charges are sent to jail.
Sexual assault:
The elements of Sexual assault charges are very similar to the elements of Rape charges, but with one crucial difference – Sexual assault charges do NOT involve sexual penetration, whereas Rape must involve penetration.
Instead, Sexual assault needs to involve some ‘sexual touching’.
The Victim must also not consent to this sexual touching, and the accused person must not reasonably believe that they were consenting to it.
Penalties:
The maximum penalty for Sexual assault is 10 years jail.
Statistics currently show that 64.3% of people convicted of Sexual assault are sent to jail.
