Sexual Offences as Defined by the Queensland Criminal Code Act

Offences of a sexual nature, as included in Chapters 22 and 32 of our QLD Criminal Code Act, are serious offences that are likely to attract a term of imprisonment if you are found guilty. These offences can be broken down into three categories:

  1. Offences of a sexual nature against children;
  2. Offences of a sexual nature against an adult;
  3. Offences involving the possession, making or distribution of child exploitation material/child pornography.

There are often difficulties facing an accused person in defending these types of allegations in Court.

Sometimes an allegation may not be made until several months, or years, after the alleged incident. In such a case, valuable forensic evidence or witness accounts may no longer be available. However, there are things you (or your criminal defence attorney) can do, including making the necessary enquiries as to the availability of such material to inform the Court of the missing evidence or witnesses.

If done properly, a direction is given to the jury about the forensic disadvantage to your case which is often helpful to explain the difficulties in defending a historical sex offense allegation.

Key Considerations to Discuss with your Criminal Lawyer

Alternatively, and when considering a plea of guilty to an offence, there are a number of key considerations you and your criminal defence attorney should discuss:

  1. That sentences of imprisonment are not a last resort;
  2. That actual imprisonment must be imposed unless there are exceptional circumstances;
  3. That a parole eligibility date must be imposed for any sentence of imprisonment that is not suspended or served by way of intensive corrections order;
  4. That psychological or psychiatric treatment options are available to you that are highly relevant to the sentence imposed;
  5. That you may be the subject of the Child Protection (Offender Reporting) Act obligations for a period of 5 or 10 years following your sentence;
  6. That you may be the subject of an application by the Attorney-General to be declared a ‘dangerous prisoner’.

Part of our criminal law advice to you will include these considerations so that you may make a fully informed decision.

If you’ve been charged with a sexual offence, and are browsing websites of local law firms trying to find a criminal lawyer nearby you best suited to providing a solid sexual assault legal defence, please don’t hesitate to contact us.  Our Maroochydore lawyers are highly experienced in sexual assault legal defences.