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Parliamentary Library and Information Service Department of Parliamentary Services ISSN 1836-7828 (Print) 1836-8050 (Online)

Number 2 February 2014

Crimes Amendment (Grooming) Bill 2013

This Research Brief includes the following sections:

Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1

1. Second Reading Speech ...................................................................................... 1

2. Background ........................................................................................................... 2

Family and Community Development Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Organisations ......................................................................................... 2

3. The Bill ................................................................................................................... 6

4. Other Jurisdictions .............................................................................................. 8

New South Wales ....................................................................................................................... 8 South Australia ............................................................................................................................. 9 Queensland ................................................................................................................................. 10

Appendix A – Section 58 of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) ................................. 11

Appendix B – Section 66EB of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) ........................ 13

References .............................................................................................................. 15

Introduced: 11 December 2013 House: Legislative Assembly 2nd Reading: 12 December 2013 Commencement: Day to be proclaimed or 1 July 2014, whichever is earlier.

Links to key documents including the Bill, Explanatory Memorandum, Statement of Compatibility and Second Reading Speech can be found in the Library’s New Bills – Information Links page at: http://library.parliament.vic.gov.au/publications/infolinks1_4Feb2014.html

For further information on the progress of this Bill please visit the Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents website @ http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au.

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Introduction

The Napthine Government introduced the Crimes Amendment (Grooming) Bill 2013 (‘the Bill’) on 11 December 2013. The Bill amends the Crimes Act 1958 by inserting a new offence of grooming for sexual conduct with a child under the age of 16 years.

1. Second Reading Speech

The Attorney-General, the Hon. Robert Clark, gave the second reading speech for the Bill on 12 December 2013.1 The Attorney-General stated that the Bill, introducing a new offence of grooming, was based on the findings and recommendations of the Family and Community Development Committee in its report Betrayal of Trust, tabled 13 November 2013.2 He also stated that the Bill constitutes the first of a number of measures that the Napthine Government intended to bring to Parliament to give effect to recommendations made in the report.

The Attorney-General stated that the Bill ‘will not require proof that any sexual offence was actually committed with the child, nor that there was any specific conduct involved in the grooming, such as exposing the child to indecent material or seeking to persuade the child to take part in sexual activity’.3 Rather, he stated that the grooming offence is ‘cast broadly so as to apply to any communication with either a child or their parent or carer, where that communication occurs with the intention of making it easier to engage or involve the child in a sexual offence’.4 Furthermore, he stated:

This will ensure that the sort of befriending and relationship building that the committee identified as an integral part of grooming will be caught by the offence, if undertaken with the intention of facilitating the engagement or involvement of the child in a sexual offence.5

The Attorney-General also noted that that the Bill will amend the Victims’ Charter Act

2006 to ‘expressly recognise that both a child and a family member of that child are victims of a grooming offence and they are each entitled to provide a victim impact statement to a court’.6

1 Victoria, Legislative Assembly (2013) Debates, Book 17, 12 December, pp. 4668-4669. 2 Family and Community Development Committee (2013a) Betrayal of Trust: Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Non-Government Organisations, November, Melbourne, viewed 3 February 2014, <http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/fcdc/inquiries/article/1788>. 3 ibid. 4 ibid. 5 ibid., p. 4668. 6 ibid., p. 4669.

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2. Background

This section briefly presents background material on the Family and Community Development Committee’s Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Organisations.

Family and Community Development Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Organisations

In 2012, the Cummins Inquiry into protecting Victoria’s vulnerable children recommended that a formal investigation be conducted into the processes by which religious organisations respond to the criminal abuse by religious personnel within their organisations.7

On 17 April 2012, the Victorian Government announced the establishment of a Parliamentary inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other organisations.8 A media release outlining the establishment of the inquiry and setting out the terms of reference stated that:

The Government concluded that a Parliamentary inquiry is the most appropriate form for the inquiry to take. A Parliamentary inquiry will be able to proceed in a less formal and legalistic manner than a Royal Commission, and with no expectation that persons giving evidence will be required to have legal representation.9

The Family and Community Development Committee (‘the Committee’), a Joint Investigatory Committee of the Parliament of Victoria, was requested to ‘inquire into, consider and report to the Parliament of Victoria on the processes by which religious and other non-government organisations respond to the criminal abuse of children by personnel within their organisation’.10

More generally, the recommendations of the Committee covered five key areas which were:

� Reforming criminal law;

7 P. Cummins, D. Scott & B. Scales (2012) Report of the Protecting Victoria’s Vulnerable Children Inquiry, report prepared for the Minister of Community Services, Melbourne, viewed 20 January 2014, <http://www.childprotectioninquiry.vic.gov.au/report-pvvc-inquiry.html>. 8 T. Baillieu, Premier of Victoria (2012) Inquiry into Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and other Organisations, Media Release, 17 April, viewed 20 January 2014, <http://premier.vic.gov.au/images/stories/documents/mediareleases/2012/120417_Baillieu-Clark_-_Inquiry_into_handling_of_child_abuse_by_religious_and_other_organisations.pdf>. 9 ibid. 10 Family and Community Development Committee (2013a) Betrayal of Trust: Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Non-Government Organisations, November, Melbourne, p. v, viewed 3 February 2014, <http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/committees/fcdc/inquiries/57th/Child_Abuse_Inquiry/Report/Inquiry_into_Handling_of_Abuse_Volume_1_FINAL_web.pdf>.

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� Accessing civil litigation; � Creating an independent, alternative avenue for justice; � Monitoring responses by organisations to criminal child abuse; and � Preventing criminal child abuse in organisations.11

The final report of the Inquiry was tabled on 13 November 2014. In the Committee Members’ tabling speeches, Chair of the Committee Ms Georgie Crozier stated that the Committee had received 578 submissions and held 162 hearing sessions, including 56 private hearings in Melbourne, Bendigo, Geelong and Ballarat.12 Ms Crozier also stated:

From the evidence we heard, the devastating effects of the crime of child abuse were clearly evident, in many instances with life-altering implications. The criminal abuse of children is a fundamental breach of the values of our community. It involves unlawful physical assaults, sexual abuse offences and the criminal neglect of children. Children cannot be expected to protect themselves from crimes such as these within organisations, and it is up to us as a community to take greater responsibility in safeguarding their wellbeing. In our evidence we heard that children were subjected to a pattern of criminal behaviour, parents were groomed to enable access to their children, reports of criminal abuse were not acted upon by organisations, and organisations covered up their wrongdoings to protect their reputations and finances.13

Chapter 22 of the Committee’s report addresses the criminality of grooming. The Committee noted that there are many ways in which ‘grooming’ can occur and importantly, the Committee found that ‘grooming’ often involves not only the cultivation of friendship with the child victim, but frequently involves grooming of the parents of a victim as well.

The Committee used the term ‘grooming’ to refer to ‘actions deliberately undertaken by an adult with the aim of befriending and influencing a child and, in some circumstances, members of the child’s family’.14 The Committee noted that grooming is ‘intended to establish an emotional connection, in order to lower the child’s inhibitions’.15 They noted that grooming involves ‘psychological manipulation that is normally very subtle, drawn out, calculated, controlling and premeditated’ and that a person who grooms a child ‘makes numerous decisions and engages in a number of acts, all separately and collectively directed at achieving a serious criminal objective’.16

The Committee received many submissions that illustrated the damaging effects of grooming to both primary and secondary victims. As grooming involves ‘a breach of trust’ and is a process by which ‘the perpetrator often seeks to isolate and silence the 11 ibid., xliii. 12 Victoria, Legislative Council (2013) Debates, Book 15, 13 November, p. 3585. 13 ibid. 14 Family and Community Development Committee (2013a) op. cit., p. 466. 15 ibid. 16 ibid.

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victim, by fostering a sense of exclusivity in their relationship’, secondary victims often felt exploited by the perpetrator and responsible for the abuse that their child suffered.17 Hence, the Committee recommended that grooming legislation acknowledge that parents can also be victims of grooming and be harmed by the actions of perpetrators.18

In the public hearings on 9 November 2012, Mr Patrick Tidmarsh, a forensic interview adviser with the Victoria Police Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team (SOCIT) stated that some perpetrators will ‘spend weeks, months or even years crafting a relationship with a family or an organisation and a child in order to gain access – unfettered access, isolated access – to that child’.19 Mr Tidmarsh also noted that grooming commonly happens when other people are present, and can be a way that perpetrators ‘test’ the child to see if the child will report the behaviour. However, he noted that children are ‘extremely unlikely’ to report a perpetrator ‘after the relationship has been manipulated and crafted’ and after that child is isolated and sees the perpetrator ‘abusing them as connected to their parents and trusted by their parents’.20 As such, grooming is ‘not exclusively about the sexualisation of the relationship with the child’ but about isolating that child and constructing a situation in which secrets about the relationship are kept by the child.21

The Committee heard from many victims and some of their submissions, illustrating the methods and manipulations used by perpetrators, are quoted in the Committee report in Chapter 22. In the Committee hearings, Mr Tidmarsh stated that perpetrators ‘use different language, different games, different manipulations, different masks, different ways of tricking people’ and that police investigators had to be trained to listen to the ‘crafting of the relationship narrative, not the narrative of events’.22

As noted by the Committee, in 2013 the NSW Ombudsman outlined types of behaviours that ‘may support a conclusion that grooming behaviour is occurring’, including:

� Persuading a child or group of children that they have a ‘special relationship’; � Inappropriately allowing the child to overstep the rules; � Asking the child to keep the relationship to themselves; � Testing boundaries, for example by: undressing in front of a child; encouraging

inappropriate physical contact (even where it is not overtly sexual); talking about sex; and, ‘accidental’ intimate touching;

17 ibid. 18 ibid. 19 Family and Community Development Committee (2013b) Transcript of Evidence of Public Hearing to Family and Community Development Committee, Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Non-Government Organisations, Melbourne, 9 November, p. 3, viewed 3 February 2014, <http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/committees/fcdc/inquiries/57th/Child_Abuse_Inquiry/Transcripts/Patrick_Tidmarsh__Rod_Jouning_9-Nov-12.pdf>. 20 ibid., p. 4. 21 ibid., p. 5. 22 ibid.

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� Inappropriately extending a relationship outside of work (except where it may be appropriate—for example, where there is an existing friendship with the child’s family or as part of normal social interactions in the community); and,

� Inappropriate personal communication (including emails, telephone calls, text messaging, social media and web forums) that explores sexual feelings or intimate personal feelings with a child.23

In their chapter on the criminality of grooming, the Committee made the following findings:

Treating grooming as an aggravating feature of a sexual offence does not sufficiently recognise the damage such conduct causes to those who are the subject of such behaviour, categorised as secondary or passive victims. The criminality of the conduct of grooming should be recognised as an offence and in addition to the primary victim, parents and others should be recognised as victims of grooming. (Finding 22.1)24

It is recognised that grooming can occur in many other contexts other than via telecommunications which are currently covered by legislation. Perpetrators of sexual offences against children often engage in grooming behaviour directly with the child cultivating a friendship through personal contact and the criminality of that conduct should be recognised. (Finding 22.2)25

In relation to grooming offences, the Committee made the following recommendation (Recommendation 22.1):

The Committee recommends that the Victorian Government give consideration to an amendment to the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) to create a criminal offence of grooming.

The grooming offence should:

�� QRW� UHTXLUH� D� VXEVWDQWLYH� RIIHQFH� RI� VH[XDO� DEXVH� WR� KDYH� EHHQ�committed

�� UHFRJQLVH� WKDW� LQ�DGGLWLRQ� WR� WKH�SULPDU\�RU� LQWHQGHG�FKLOG�YLFWLP�RI�sexual abuse, parents and others can be victims of this criminal conduct.26

23 NSW Ombudsman (2013) ‘Defining Reportable Conduct: Child Protection Practice Update 2013’, July, Sydney, NSW Ombudsman, viewed 20 January 2014, <http://www.ombo.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/5620/PU_CP_02_11_Reportable_Conduct_v3.pdf>. 24 Family and Community Development Committee (2013a) op. cit., p. 470. 25 ibid. 26 ibid.

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3. The Bill

This section of the Research Brief summarises the key provisions of the Bill. For an overview of the Bill in its entirety, readers are directed to the Explanatory Memorandum.

The Bill inserts a new section 49B following section 49A of the Crimes Act 1958 and states in new section 49B(2) that:

A person of or over the age of 18 years must not communicate, by words or conduct, with a child under the age of 16 years or a person under whose care, supervision or authority the child is (whether or not a response is made to the communication) with the intention of facilitating the child's engagement in or involvement in a sexual offence with that person or another person who is of or over the age of 18 years.

Penalty: Level 5 imprisonment (10 years maximum).

The Explanatory Memorandum specifies that it is not necessary that the child respond to the communication.27

Without limiting new section 49B(2), new section 49B(3) sets out a non-exhaustive list of persons who may have a child under his or her care, supervision or authority. This list includes: the child’s parent or step-parent; the child’s teacher; the child’s legal guardian; a religious official or spiritual leader; the child’s employer; the child’s youth worker; the child’s sports coach; an out of home carer; and, a person employed in, or providing services in, a remand centre, youth residential centre, youth justice centre or prison.

New section 49B(4) states:

For the avoidance of doubt, a person does not intend to facilitate a child's engagement in or involvement in a sexual offence with that person or another person where, if the child were to engage in or be involved in the sexual activity intended, that person or the other person would not commit a sexual offence because he or she would have a defence or satisfy an exception to that sexual offence.

New sections 49B(5), 49B(6) and 49B(7) address jurisdictional provisions to cover various situations in which some elements of the offence occur outside Victoria, stating that it is immaterial that:

� some or all of the communication constituting an offence occurred outside Victoria, so long as the child was in Victoria at the time at which that communication occurred (49B(5));

27 Explanatory Memorandum, Crimes Amendment (Grooming) Bill 2013, p. 1.

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� the child was outside Victoria at the time at which some or all of the communication constituting an offence occurred, so long as the accused was in Victoria at the time of sending the communication or engaging in the conduct that constitutes the communication (49B(6)); and,

� that both the accused and the child were outside Victoria at the time at which some or all of the communication constituting an offence occurred, so long as the intended sexual offence would occur in Victoria (49B(7)).

A new section 621 is inserted at the end of Part 7 of the Crimes Act to specify that the new grooming offences apply to an offence alleged to have been committed on or after the commencement of that Act.

Clause 5 of the Bill inserts consequential amendments to other acts including the Sex

Offenders Registration Act 2004, the Sentencing Act 1991 and the Victims’ Charter Act

2006. Most notably, amendments are made to the definition of ‘victim’ in section 3(1) of the Victims’ Charter Act 2006 to include the child and a family member of that child as persons entitled to make a victim impact statement to the court in the case of an offence of grooming.

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4. Other Jurisdictions

As noted in the Committee report, the Commonwealth and each of the Australian states have passed laws that criminalise the use of the internet and other forms of communication to create or develop relationships with children, with the intention of engaging in sexual activity with them.28 In Victoria, section 58 of the Crimes Act 1958 addresses ‘procuring sexual penetration of a child’ and is reproduced in Appendix A.

This section will briefly examine grooming provisions in New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland. Particular attention is devoted to New South Wales as this jurisdiction is examined in detail in the Committee report as the provisions in NSW ‘go further’ than other jurisdictions.29 It should be noted that the Royal Commission to investigate Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse is expected to complete their final report by the end of 2015, subject to advice from Commissioners in their interim report.30

New South Wales

In 2007, New South Wales introduced the offence of ‘procuring or grooming’ a child under 16 years for unlawful sexual activity by inserting section 66EB into the Crimes Act

1900. In 2008, further offences were added, including ‘meeting a child following grooming’ (s 66EB(2A)).31 Section 66EB on ‘Procuring or grooming child under 16 for unlawful sexual activity’ is produced in full in Appendix A, however to summarise:

� Section 66EB(2) states that an adult who intentionally procures a child for unlawful sexual activity with that or any other person is guilty of an offence. The maximum penalty is imprisonment for 15 years if the child is under 14 years and 12 years imprisonment if the child is over the age of 14 years;

� Section 66EB(2A) creates an offence for an adult person to intentionally meet a child or travel with the intention of meeting a child ‘whom the adult person has groomed for sexual purposes’;

� Section 66EB(3) states that it is an offence for an adult who engages in any conduct that exposes a child to indecent material or provides a child with an intoxicating substance and does so with the intention of making it easier to procure the child for unlawful sexual activity;

28 Family and Community Development Committee (2013a) op. cit., p. 471. See also the following sections of Acts referred to in the Committee report that address grooming in the context of electronic communications: Crimes Act 1900 (ACT) s 66; Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) s 474.26, s 74.27(1)(2)(3) and s 74.27A; Criminal Code Act 1899 (Qld) s 218A(1); Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA) s 63B(3); Criminal Code Act 1924 (Tas) s 125D; Criminal Code Act Compilation Act 1913 (WA) s 204B; Criminal Code Act (NT) ss 131,32(2); Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) s 66EB. 29 Family and Community Development Committee (2013a) op. cit., p. 472. 30 The Royal Commission was established on 11 January 2013 by the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, Her Excellency Quentin Bryce. The Commission will prepare an interim report by 30 June 2014. 31 This is similar to provisions in other jurisdictions, such as England and Wales, where it is an offence to meet a child following sexual grooming (s 15 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003) and to arrange and facilitate the commission of a child sex offence (s 14 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003).

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� Section 66EB(4) states that ‘In any proceedings for an offence against this section, it is necessary to prove that the child was or was to be procured for unlawful sexual activity, but it is not necessary to specify or to prove any particular unlawful sexual activity’; and,

� Section 66EB(5) relates to ‘fictitious children’ and states that ‘A reference in this section to a child includes a reference to a person who pretends to be a child if the accused believed that the person was a child’.

The Committee addressed the grooming provisions in NSW in their report, however they stated that:

Although these provisions go further than those in other states, including Victoria, there is no grooming offence where an adult engages in conduct (whether directed at the child or at some other person) to facilitate access to that child and does so with the intention of making it easier to procure that child for unlawful sexual activity.32

The Committee noted that another limitation of the NSW provisions is that the conduct ‘must expose a child to indecent material’. They stated that section 474.27 (‘Using a carriage service to “groom” persons under 16 years of age’) of the Commonwealth Criminal Code 1995 was amended in 2010 to ‘delete the requirement that the communication in question must include material that was indecent’.33 As noted in the Explanatory Memorandum of the Commonwealth Crimes Legislation Amendment (Sexual Offences Against Children) Bill 2010, which made the amendments to the Criminal Code referred to,

The practice of grooming encompasses a wide range of activity designed to build a relationship of trust with the child for the purposes of later sexually exploiting the child. The content of communications between the offender and the child may not always be indecent – the grooming process is just as likely to involve platonic, ‘innocent’ exchanges.34

South Australia

Section 63B(3) of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA) states:

(3) A person who— (a) procures a child under the prescribed age in relation to that person or makes a communication with the intention of procuring a child under the prescribed age in relation to that person to engage in, or submit to, a sexual activity; or

32 ibid., p. 473. 33 ibid. 34 Explanatory Memorandum, Crimes Legislation Amendment (Sexual Offences Against Children) Bill 2010 (Commonwealth of Australia), pp. 92, 93, 94, 95.

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(b) makes a communication for a prurient purpose and with the intention of making a child under the prescribed age in relation to that person amenable to a sexual activity, is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty:

(a) for a basic offence—imprisonment for 10 years; (b) for an aggravated offence—imprisonment for 12 years.

Queensland

Section 218A of the Criminal Code 1899 addresses the use of the internet to procure children under 16 years of age to engage in a sexual act.35 Importantly, this section also states that it is not necessary to prove that the adult intended to procure the person to engage in any particular sexual act (s 218A(5)) and that ‘it does not matter that the person is a fictitious person represented to the adult as a real person’ (s 218A(7)).

Higher penalties apply if the offence involves the adult intentionally meeting the person under 16 years or going to a place with the intention of meeting the person. Regarding ‘grooming’ more generally, section 218B states:

218B Grooming children under 16

(1) Any adult who engages in any conduct in relation to a person under the age of 16 years, or a person the adult believes is under the age of 16 years, with intent to—

(a) facilitate the procurement of the person to engage in a sexual act, either in Queensland or elsewhere; or (b) expose, without legitimate reason, the person to any indecent matter, either in Queensland or elsewhere;

commits a crime.

Maximum penalty—5 years imprisonment.

35 In the Act, procure means ‘knowingly entice or recruit for the purposes of sexual exploitation’.

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Appendix A – Section 58 of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic)

58 Procuring sexual penetration of a child

(1) A person aged 18 years or more must not solicit or procure a child under the age of 16 years to take part in an act of sexual penetration, or an indecent act (within the meaning of Subdivision (8D)), outside marriage with him or her or another person.

Penalty: Level 5 imprisonment (10 years maximum).

(2) A person aged 18 years or more must not solicit or procure another person to take part in an act of sexual penetration, or an indecent act (within the meaning of Subdivision (8D)), outside marriage with a child under the age of 16 years.

Penalty: Level 5 imprisonment (10 years maximum).

(3) A person aged 18 years or more must not solicit or procure a 16 or 17 year old child to whom he or she is not married and who is under his or her care, supervision or authority to take part in an act of sexual penetration, or an indecent act (within the meaning of Subdivision (8D)), with him or her or another person.

Penalty: Level 5 imprisonment (10 years maximum).

(4) If—

(a) a person does an act or thing referred to in subsection (1), (2) or (3) outside, or partly outside, Victoria; and

(b) there is a real and substantial link within the meaning of subsection (5) between the doing of the act or thing and Victoria— those subsections apply to the act or thing as if it had been done wholly within Victoria.

(5) For the purposes of subsection (4), there is a real and substantial link with Victoria—

(a) if a significant part of the conduct relating to, or constituting the doing of, the act or thing occurred in Victoria; or

(b) where the act or thing was done wholly outside Victoria, if the act or thing was done with the intention that the act of sexual penetration or the indecent act occur in Victoria.

(6) For the purposes of subsection (3), and without limiting that subsection, a child is under the care, supervision or authority of a person if the person is—

(a) the child's teacher;

(b) the child's foster parent;

(c) the child's legal guardian;

(d) a minister of religion with pastoral responsibility for the child;

(e) the child's employer;

(f) the child's youth worker;

(g) the child's sports coach;

(h) the child's counsellor;

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(i) the child's health professional;

(j) a member of the police force acting in the course of his or her duty in respect of the child;

(k) employed in, or providing services in, a remand centre, youth residential centre, youth justice centre or prison and is acting in the course of his or her duty in respect of the child.

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Appendix B – Section 66EB of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW)

66EB Procuring or grooming child under 16 for unlawful sexual activity

(1) Definitions

In this section:

adult person means a person who is of or over the age of 18 years.

child means a person who is under the age of 16 years.

conduct includes:

(a) communicating in person or by telephone, the internet or other means, or

(b) providing any computer image, video or publication.

unlawful sexual activity means an act that constitutes an offence under this Division or Division 10A, 15 or 15A (or, in the case of an act occurring outside this State, that would constitute such an offence if it occurred in this State).

(2) Procuring children

An adult person who intentionally procures a child for unlawful sexual activity with that or any other person is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty:

(a) in the case of a child who is under the age of 14 years—imprisonment for 15 years, or

(b) in any other case—imprisonment for 12 years.

(2A) Meeting child following grooming

An adult person:

(a) who intentionally meets a child, or travels with the intention of meeting a child, whom the adult person has groomed for sexual purposes, and

(b) who does so with the intention of procuring the child for unlawful sexual activity with that adult person or any other person, is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty:

(a) in the case of a child who is under the age of 14 years—imprisonment for 15 years, or

(b) in any other case—imprisonment for 12 years.

(2B) For the purposes of subsection (2A), a child has been groomed for sexual purposes by an adult person if, on one or more previous occasions, the adult person has engaged in conduct that exposed the child to indecent material.

(3) Grooming children

An adult person:

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(a) who engages in any conduct that exposes a child to indecent material or provides a child with an intoxicating substance, and

(b) who does so with the intention of making it easier to procure the child for unlawful sexual activity with that or any other person, is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty:

(a) in the case of a child who is under the age of 14 years—imprisonment for 12 years, or

(b) in any other case—imprisonment for 10 years.

(4) Unlawful sexual activity need not be particularised

In any proceedings for an offence against this section, it is necessary to prove that the child was or was to be procured for unlawful sexual activity, but it is not necessary to specify or to prove any particular unlawful sexual activity.

(5) Fictitious children

A reference in this section to a child includes a reference to a person who pretends to be a child if the accused believed that the person was a child. In that case, a reference in this section:

(a) to unlawful sexual activity includes a reference to anything that would be unlawful sexual activity if the person were a child, and

(b) to the age of the child is a reference to the age that the accused believed the person to be.

(6) Charge for aggravated offence

The higher maximum penalty under subsection (2), (2A) or (3) in the case of a child under the age of 14 years does not apply unless the age of the child is set out in the charge for the offence.

(7) Defence

It is a defence in proceedings for an offence against this section if the accused reasonably believed that the other person was not a child.

(8) Alternative verdict

If on the trial of a person charged with an offence against subsection (2) or (2A) the jury is not satisfied that the offence is proven but is satisfied that the person has committed an offence against subsection (3), the jury may acquit the person of the offence charged and find the person guilty of an offence against subsection (3). The person is liable to punishment accordingly.

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References

Relevant Legislation

Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) Crimes Act 1900 (ACT) Criminal Code Act 1924 (Tas) Criminal Code Act (NT) Criminal Code 1899 (Qld) Criminal Code 1995 (Cth) Criminal Code Act Compilation Act 1913 (WA) Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (SA) Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004 (Vic) Sexual Offences Act 2003 (UK) Victims’ Charter Act 2006 (Vic)

Works Cited

Baillieu, T., Premier of Victoria (2012) Inquiry into Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Organisations, Media Release, 17 April, viewed 20 January 2014, <http://premier.vic.gov.au/images/stories/documents/mediareleases/2012/120417_Baillieu-Clark_-_Inquiry_into_handling_of_child_abuse_by_religious_and_other_organisations.pdf>.

Cummins, P., D. Scott & B. Scales (2012) Report of the Protecting Victoria’s Vulnerable

Children Inquiry, report prepared for the Minister of Community Services, Melbourne, viewed 20 January 2014, <http://www.childprotectioninquiry.vic.gov.au/report-pvvc-inquiry.html>.

Family and Community Development Committee (2013a) Betrayal of Trust: Inquiry into

the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Non-Government Organisations, November, Melbourne, <http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/committees/fcdc/inquiries/57th/Child_Abuse_Inquiry/Report/Part_G.pdf>.

Family and Community Development Committee (2013b) Transcript of Evidence of Public Hearing to Family and Community Development Committee, Inquiry into the

Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Non-Government Organisations, Melbourne, 9 November, <http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/committees/fcdc/inquiries/57th/Child_Abuse_Inquiry/Transcripts/Patrick_Tidmarsh__Rod_Jouning_9-Nov-12.pdf>.

NSW Ombudsman (2013) ‘Defining Reportable Conduct: Child Protection Practice Update 2013’, July, Sydney, NSW Ombudsman, viewed 20 January 2014, <http://www.ombo.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/5620/PU_CP_02_11_Reportable_Conduct_v3.pdf>.

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© 2014 Parliamentary Library and Information Service, Department of Parliamentary Services, Parliament of Victoria

Except to the extent of the uses permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means including information storage and retrieval systems, without the prior written consent of the Department of Parliamentary Services, other than by Members of the Victorian Parliament in the course of their official duties.

Research Service

This paper has been prepared by the Research Service for use by Members of the Victorian Parliament. The Service prepares briefings and publications for Parliament in response to Members, and in anticipation of their requirements, undertaking research in areas of contemporary concern to the Victorian legislature. While it is intended that all information provided is accurate, it does not represent professional legal opinion.

Research publications present current information as at the time of printing. They should not be considered as complete guides to the particular subject or legislation covered. The views expressed are those of the author(s).

Author

Rachel Macreadie Research & Inquiries Officer Victorian Parliamentary Library and Information Service

Enquiries

Enquiries should be addressed to: Jon Breukel Co-ordinator, Research & Inquiries Victorian Parliamentary Library and Information Service Parliament House Spring Street, Melbourne Telephone (03) 9651 8630 Facsimile (03) 9650 9775

Information about Research Publications is available on the Internet at:

http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au