Sex - The Law
Submitted by Dannyboy11 on Tue, 02/02/2010 - 23:11
A 15 year old male has sex with a 15 year female. Both are intoxicated. The 15 year old female is "asking for it" at the time. Later that night, she's taken to hospital after consuming too much alcohol. The next day, she accuses the male of rape.
I was wondering what the law says? If she's under 16 is it statutory rape, even if both parties are?
Was just wondering if anybody could shed some light on it.
Thanks
Danny, Whilst this is not my
Danny,
Whilst this is not my area of law, you may find the following link helpful:
http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/s_to_u/sexual_offences_unlawful_sexual_intercourse/
If you are directly affected by this issue, I would recommend that you seek proper legal advice and I am sure that the host of this forum will be able to put you in touch with a colleague of his if necessary.
Regards.
I am a Solicitor at
I am a Solicitor at Sarginsons Law LLP and have experience in defending and prosecuting criminal cases.
If the female alleges rape the Police would investigate an offence of rape. The case would need to be passed to the Crown Prosecution Service to decide whether to prosecute. In making this decision the Crown Prosecutor would apply the “The Code for Crown Prosecutors". There are two stages to this - Firstly, is there sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction? If there is the second stage is considered - Is it in the public interest to prosecute?
If however the girl had consented to sexual intercourse there is an offence of unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under sixteen, contrary to section 6 Sexual Offences Act 1956. The police would need to investigate this but the decision to prosecute rests with the Crown Prosecution Service. They would need to consider carefully “the public interest test”. There are also a number of other offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 that may need to be considered. Sections 9 – 13 – please see this link for further information - http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2003/ukpga_20030042_en_2#pt1-pb3-l1g4
I cannot provide specific advice without further information. Should you wish to discuss this further, my email is aeast@s-law.co.uk.
HiThanks for your
Hi
Thanks for your replies.
This doesn't affect me in any way, shape or form; I was just asked and didn't know so thought I'd ask for help from the experts.
After reading one of the links, am I therefore right in thinking that subsection 13 applies?
What is the difference between (a) and (b)?
(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both;
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years.
A quick Google tells me a summary conviction is where there is no jury and the other is where there is. Would a rape case not always go to a jury? And what does public interest mean? Does it mean if the accused is posed as a danger or something?
In reference to your
In reference to your scenario the Police may investigate offences under section 13 Sexual Offences Act 2003. A Crown Prosecutor will consider offences under this section by applying the Code for Crown Prosecutors.
A criminal offence is classified in three types – summary only, either way and indictable only. Rape is indictable only and will only be heard in the Crown Court. Some of the offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 are either way offences. A summary conviction is a conviction in the magistrate’s court.
Public interest is a term used in the Crown Prosecution Service. The following link is the Crown Prosecution Service website that sets out the Public Interest test – http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/docs/code2004english.pdf