Sexual Offences

Question 1

Defence for indecent exposure

Answer 1

The defendant proves that they had reasonable grounds for believing that they would not be observed.

Question 2

Indecent act definition.

Answer 2

“Not conforming with generally accepted

standards of behaviour, especially in relation to sexual matters”.

Question 3

Indecent Act in Public Place (Legislation)

Answer 3

Crimes Act 1961 - Section 125

Question 4

Wilfully does (def)

Answer 4

…deliberate or voluntarily and not accidental.

Question 5

With intent to insult or offend any person (def)

Answer 5

Done deliberately, on purpose aiming to cause offence

and outrage to ANY person

Question 6

Indecently Assaults (def)

Answer 6

As per Section 2 of the Crimes Act 1961, assault is the
act of intentionally applying force or attempting to
apply force to the another person directly or
indirectly or threatening by an act or gesture to apply
such force to the person of another, if the person
making the threat has, or causes the other to believe
on reasonable grounds they have the present ability to
effect his purpose.

This act of assault must be accompanied by
circumstances of indecency.

Question 7

Other Offences Involving Indecency

Answer 7

• Section 132(3) Indecent act on a child under 12
− Penalty: 10 years

• Section 134(3) Indecent act on a young person under 16
− Penalty: 7 years.

Question 8

The definition of intimate visual recording is:

Answer 8

1. A visual recording (photograph, digital image or recording) that is made in any medium using any device without the knowledge or consent of the person who is the subject of the recording, and the recording is of –

a) A person who is in a place which, in the circumstances, would be reasonably be expected to provide privacy, and that person is –
i. Naked or has his or her genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or female breasts exposed, partially exposed, or clad in undergarments; or
ii. Engaged in an intimate sexual activity; or
iii. Engaged in showering, toileting, or other personal bodily activity that involves dressing or undressing; or

b) A person’s naked or undergarment-clad genitals, pubic area, buttocks or female breasts which is made -
i. From beneath or under a person’s clothing; or
ii. Through a person’s outer clothing in circumstances where it is unreasonable to do so.

3. …and includes an intimate visual recording that is made and transmitted in real time without retention or storage in –
   a) A physical form; or
   b) An electronic form from which the recording is capable of being reproduced with or without the aid of any device or thing.

Question 9

A person who rapes another person.

Answer 9

Person A rapes person B if person A has sexual connection with person B effected by the penetration of person B’s genitalia by person A’s penis

• without person B’s consent to the connection and
• without believing on reasonable grounds B consented
to the connection

Question 10

Any person having unlawful sexual connection with another person

Answer 10

Person A has unlawful sexual connection with person B if
person A has sexual connection with person B

• without person B’s consent to the connection and
• without believing on reasonable grounds B consented
to the connection

Sexual connection means:
Connection effected by the introduction into the genitalia
or the anus of one person, otherwise than for genuine
medical purposes, of:
• any part of the body of the another person
or
• an object held or manipulated by the another person
or
• connection between the mouth or tongue of one
person and a part of another person’s genitalia or anus
or
• continuation of connection of a kind described above

Question 11

Definition of Consent

Answer 11

“Consent is a person’s conscious and voluntary agreement to something desired or proposed by another.”

Question 12

Section 128A of the Crimes Act 1961, outlines circumstances where in sexual activity a person does not provide a legal consent. These circumstances are:

Answer 12

• A person does not consent to sexual activity just because he or she does not protest or offer physical resistance.
• A person does not consent to sexual activity if he or she allows the activity because of force applied to him / her or some other person; or threat (expressed or implied) or fear of the application of force to him / her or some other person.
• A person cannot consent when they are asleep or unconscious.
• A person cannot consent if they are so affected by alcohol or some other drug that they cannot consent or refuse to consent.
• A person cannot consent if affected by intellectual, mental, or physical condition or impairment of such a nature and degree that they cannot consent or refuse to consent.
• A person cannot consent where they are mistaken about the identity of the other person.
• A person does not consent if they allow the act because they are mistaken about its nature and quality.

Question 13

Obscenely (def)

Answer 13

…offends contemporary standards of propriety, to the
extent that a reasonable observer would regard it with
“loathing, disgust and revulsion”. Consideration must
be given to time, place and circumstances.

Question 14

It is also noted in the commentary Westlaw NZ CA124.02 that

Answer 14

“…the question of indecency must be considered by reference to the time, place and circumstances of the conduct…”

Question 15

Found (def)

Answer 15

• Discovered on
• Seen entering
• Seen leaving
• Seen

Question 16

by night (def)

Answer 16

Between the end of the first hour after sunset and the beginning of the last hour before sunrise

Question 17

Peeping or Peering

Answer 17

Deliberately looking through any window or open door

Question 18

(Peeping or Peering) It is an offence to:

Answer 18

− enter on land and peep or peer into a dwelling house
− loiter on land and not peep or peer
− peep or peer from some distance away; for example, with binoculars. Although the person is not on the land, they can nevertheless look into a dwelling house.

Question 19

into a dwelling house.

Answer 19

Into a residence, place of abode

Question 20

Case Law. In Braxton v Sugrue,

Answer 20

the defendant argued that because the police officer had
stopped him outside a hotel, he had not been ‘found’ in the hotel. He was convicted of being a ‘minor in a bar’ on the basis that he was seen leaving the premises.