Australian Capital Territory Current Acts

CRIMES ACT 1900 - SECT 61A

    (1)     A person commits an offence if—

        (a)     the person commits an act of indecency on, or in the presence of, a young person; and

        (b)     the young person is under the person's special care.

Maximum penalty: imprisonment for 7 years.

Note     A reference to an offence includes a reference to a related ancillary offence, eg attempt (see Legislation Act

, s 189).

    (2)     Subsection (1) does not apply to a person if the person—

        (a)     was married to the young person at the time of the alleged offence; or

        (b)     is not more than 2 years older than the young person.

Note     The defendant has an evidential burden in relation to the matters mentioned in s (2) (see Criminal Code

, s 58).

    (3)     It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against subsection (1) if the defendant proves that the defendant believed on reasonable grounds that the young person was at least 18 years old.

Note     The defendant has a legal burden in relation to the matters mentioned in s (3) (see Criminal Code

, s 59).

    (4)     In this section:

"special care"—see section 55A (2).

"young person"—see section 55A (5).