Digital Penetration | Rape | Case Study
The Charges
Rape; Indecent Assault. Melbourne County Court.
The Facts
The client was a massage therapist. It was alleged by the prosecution that the client had inserted his finger into the vagina of the complainant three times (digital penetration) whilst performing a massage and massaged the complainant’s breasts.
The Result
The client attended our offices early and this assisted our office in properly preparing the case. During the committal hearing (the preliminary hearing) the complainant made certain concessions, namely that she had previously been the victim of sexual abuse and that she had been seeing a psychiatrist.
The complainant also conceded that the breast massage was potentially consensual and that she was not sure if the penetration occurred more than once. This led to the indecent assault charge regarding the initially alleged breast massage being struck out at the committal, this meant that the jury did not ever hear about the breast massage.
The other concessions were also very helpful and considering that our client had no prior history and had denied all allegations initially, the client was in a good position for trial. At trial the complainant was cross-examined on the above matters. Afterwards, the jury could not be satisfied of the accused’s guilt. There was a hung jury, rather than a full acquittal, so the matter was adjourned to allow time for the Crown to decide whether they would try to prosecute again.
In the interim period our office made a written submission to the prosecution inviting them to provide our office with a Notice of Discontinuance. The submissions was accepted and the prosecution discontinued the prosecution.
Given the potential consequences were both prison and registration on the Sex Offenders Register the client was extremely relieved at the outcome.
If you have been charged or are about to be interviewed in relation to alleged sexual offending, do not hesitate, call our office today. We are experienced trial lawyers and can assist.
