Sexual Offences

One of the most serious situations someone can find themselves in is being accused of a sexual offence.

Rape

A rape is where a person uses their penis to intentionally penetrate the vagina, mouth or anus of another. This is when the other person does not consent.

Sexual Assault

This is where there is an assault (i.e. the unlawful application of force) and the touching was sexual in nature.

Consent

Consent is defined by section 74 Sexual Offences Act 2003. Someone consents to vaginal, anal or oral penetration only if s/he agrees by choice to that penetration and has the freedom and capacity to make that choice.

A Defendant will have a defence if they have a reasonable belief that the alleged victim is consenting. This is determined by reference to all of the circumstances in addition to the particular characteristics of a Defendant. This is ordinarily viewed as a two-stage test:

1. Did the suspect genuinely believe the complainant consented? This relates to his or her personal capacity to evaluate consent (the subjective element of the test).
2. If so, did the suspect reasonably believe it? It will be for the jury to decide if his or her belief was reasonable (the objective element).

Indecent Images of Children

One of the more complex areas of law relates to Possession of Indecent Images of Children. These are ordinarily graded into A, B or C. The meaning of possession is not firmly defined and thus varies on the facts of an offence. It is extremely important that the possibility of expert evidence is pursued - this can include forensic mapping of a device or work to establish the creation dates of files. This is vital when exploring whether or not the files were deliberately accessed.

Rhys is regularly instructed to represent those accused of rape and serious sexual offences. These can include where the offences are historic in nature.

This is an area of law which is rapidly changing such as the introduction of what is known as Section 28 pre-recorded cross-examination.

Upskirting

The criminal offence of ‘upskirting’ was created under the Voyeurism Act when it received Royal Assent in February. The Act was introduced on 12^th April 2019 and so has effect from that date. If an individual is convicted of such an offence, they can receive a custodial sentence of up to 2 years and will be placed on the sex offenders register. The offence is brought pursuant to the Voyeurism (Offences) Act 2019.

There are two offences that are created by the Act.

The first is where an individual operates a device under the clothing of another. The ingredients of this offence, i.e. what would need to be proven, are as follows:

1. That the Defendant operated equipment under the clothes of another;
2. The purpose of this is to observe, where they would not otherwise be visible, for the purpose of either obtaining sexual gratification for themselves or another or humiliating/alarming/distressing the person of whose clothing the device is operated under:
3. Another’s genitals/buttocks; or
4. The underwear covering another’s genitals/buttocks.
5. And the Defendant does so without the other person’s consent or does not reasonably believe they would be consenting.

The second offence is where the Defendant records/takes an image beneath the clothing of another person. The ingredients of the offence are as follows:

1. That the Defendant records an image under the clothing of another;
2. The image is of, where they would not otherwise be visible, :
3. Another’s genitals/buttocks; or
4. The underwear covering another’s genitals/buttocks.
5. This is done with the purpose of looking at the image, or for another person to look at the image, for the purpose of either obtaining sexual gratification for themselves or another or humiliating/alarming/distressing the person of whom the photo is taken
6. And the Defendant does so without the other person’s consent or does not reasonably believe they would be consenting.