Our expert criminal lawyers for sexual touching offences can help you:
- Obtain bail.
- Be found not guilty.
- Receive a lenient sentence, like no conviction and no prison.
You will be represented by a team of award-winning criminal lawyers, with 500+ five-star Google reviews, who offer fixed fees and free first consultations.
You can read our reviews here.
What is sexual touching?
Sexual Touching is an offence under the Crimes Act 1900. This offence replaced the former offence of indecent assault, following reforms to NSW sexual offence laws in 2018.
A person commits the offence if they intentionally sexually touch another person without that person’s consent, while knowing that the other person does not consent. Additionally, one may also be charged with sexual touching if they force the complainant to touch them, incite a third person to sexually touch a complainant, or incite the complainant to sexually touch a third person.
The meaning of sexual touching is outlined as touching another person:
- With any part of the body or with anything else, or
- Through anything, including anything worn by the person doing the touching or by the person being touched
The matters to be taken into account in deciding whether a reasonable person would consider touching to be sexual include:
- Whether the area of the body touched or doing the touching is the person’s genital area, anal area or breasts, whether or not the breasts are sexually developed, and regardless of the person’s gender or sex, or
- Whether the person doing the touching does so for the purpose of obtaining sexual arousal or sexual gratification, or
- Whether any other aspect of the touching (including the circumstances in which it is done) makes it sexual.
Pleading not guilty
To be found guilty of sexual touching, the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that:
- The accused intentionally sexually touched another person, or incited another person to engage in sexual touching,
- The other person did not consent to the touching,
- The accused knew the other person was not consenting.
At least one element must be proven by the prosecution.
You can read more information about pleading not guilty here.
Common issues that arise in defence to sexual touching cases include:
- Whether the touching occurred,
- Whether the touching was sexual in nature,
- Whether the complainant consented,
- Whether the accused could reasonably believe the other person was consenting,
- Whether the accused was acting freely, or whether there was any form of duress.
Read more about wrongful sexual assault allegations here.
Pleading guilty
If a person accepts that the offence occurred and the evidence is strong, it may be advisable to enter a guilty plea.  The courts must consider the seriousness of the conduct, evidence of remorse, the offender’s criminal history and the circumstances surrounding the offence.
You can read more about pleading guilty here.
The maximum has been identified as imprisonment for 5 years for sexual touching. Additionally, the minimum penalty for aggravated sexual touching is 7 years’ imprisonment.
Aggravating circumstances may include:Â
- The offender is in the company of another person,
- The victim is under the authority of the offender,
- The victim has a serious physical disability,
- The victim has a cognitive impairment.
Do I need references?
We believe references are an extremely important part of a plea of guilty in court. Read about court processes and how to write a good character reference.
Contact Australian Criminal Law Group
Our criminal lawyers, with 500+ five-star Google reviews, can beat your sexual touching charge or obtain a lenient sentence for you if you plead guilty.
Call us on (02) 8815 8167 for your free first conference or submit a website enquiry.