Sexual Assault Charges
The days of a rape trial are almost non-existent today. The legislation now breaks down sexual offences to those of sexual assault and forms of indecent assault including aggravated indecent assault.
A sexual assault lawyer must have the experience in this specialized area of criminal defence law to give an accused person the best possible representation. Nyman Gibson Miralis have an accredited specialist in criminal law to look after the interests of anyone charged with these serious offences.
Sex offences are most often committed without witnesses other than the victim. It sometimes makes it particularly difficult therefore for an accused person to defend the allegations of a complainant. It is often the word of one person against the other and an accused person does not necessarily start on the same footing as the accuser.
Consent to a sexual act might be withdrawn. It is possible that a person having had consensual sex is the subject of a criminal allegation because the complainant is angry, revengeful, embarrassed or simply unhappy with the other person – after the event. In such circumstances, the accused person often has the weight of DNA evidence, and medical evidence to confirm that a sexual act took place.
There are countless examples of women (mostly) who have really been sexually assaulted and sympathy must lie with those people. There are also examples of women who claim they have been sexually assaulted when in fact they have not.
Another difficulty with criminal sex matters is that the complaint is sometimes not made until a very long time after the alleged incident – in some cases 10 or 20 years or more later. This makes it hard for the accused person to avail themselves of alibi evidence or to defend the matter without the assistance of an expert sexual assault lawyer.
Indecent Assault
Indecent assaults can involve inappropriate touching of a sexual nature or for sexual gratification, such as on the breasts, buttocks or genitals, but without penetration. These types of offences also require a specialist sexual assault lawyer due to the difficulties that arise in these types of prosecutions. Most indecent assaults do not leave physical marks or injuries. They are more likely than not to have no eyewitnesses other than the alleged victim. There is often a delay in complaint, sometimes due to the tender age of the complainant at the time of the incident.
Aggravated indecent assault and aggravated sexual assault are terms that refer to a criminal sex activity that might be aggravated due to the victim’s age, mental or physical condition, or the relationship between the accused and the complainant such as parent, teacher or a person in authority.
The penalties for sexual offences are severe, yet legislation is moving in the direction of making it easier for a person accused of a sex offence to be convicted. Standard non-parole periods apply for persons who are unsuccessful in defending these types of matters, and such periods involve years of imprisonment. Without minimizing the real harm to genuine victims of sexual assault, it is too easy to make a false complaint and our specialist sexual assault lawyers have the ability and know how to represent the accused person.
Sexual Assault Lawyers
If you require assistance, contact one of our experienced criminal defence lawyers. We travel to all courts throughout NSW. View the courts that we attend.