Research Findings: Sentencing of Child Sexual Offences in Queensland

1. Research Findings: Sentencing of Child Sexual Offences in Queensland Crime Research and Statistics Network 6 March 2012 Dr Travis Anderson-Bond

2. Today’s research questions • What was the impact of the Sexual Offences (Protection of Children) Amendment Act 2003 on the sentencing of sexual offences against children? • How does sentencing for sexual offences against children compare to the sentencing for sexual offences against adults?

3. Sexual Offences Amd’nt Act 2003 • Increased max penalties for indecent treatment of a child under 16 • Increased max penalties for maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with a child • To show ‘maintaining, reduced the need to prove three sexual acts down to one sexual act • Excluded sexual offences against children from the principle that ‘imprisonment is a last resort’ when sentencing

4. Longitudinal data • Queensland courts database, captured by Dept of Justice and Attorney-General (DJAG) and maintained by Office of Economic and Social Research (OESR) • Looked at 1994-2010 • Offences examined were defined by legislation (act and section)

5. Longitudinal data structure • Row = defendant case, most serious penalty for most serious offence (MSO) • Most serious offence is the most serious penalty (used ABS ranking of penalty seriousness) • If no sentenced offences, then most serious offence determined by ABS National Offence Index • Note: using MSO hides co-sentenced offences

6. Difficulties to be addressed 1. Variable data quality over time: • data passed through many ‘eras’, quality improves over time • visible change: impact of 2003, or change in data quality? • used 2001-10 data

7. Difficulties cont. 2. Contemporary changes • Criminal Law Amendment Act 2000 - oral and digital penetration moved from indecent treatment to rape • Evidence (Protection of Children) Amendment Act 2003 - children can pre-record testimony or give evidence by CCTV • 2004 Court of Appeal decision - increased max penalty for some forms of ‘maintaining’ • other un-measured changes – social, case characteristics?

8. Difficulties cont. So, even if changes to sentencing were found after 2003, it is difficult to specify the reason for them

9. Descriptions of offences • Rape: penetrative intercourse w/out consent • Maintaining unlawful sex'l relation. w/ child: one or more sexual acts over time • Indecent treatment of child under 16: touching, photographing, exposing child to sexual material/acts, etc. • Unlawful carnal knowledge: intercourse w/ under 16 • Unlawful sodomy: anal intercourse w/ under 18

10. Prevalence of offences

11. To examine • Rate of guilty pleas • Rate of imprisonment • Length of immediate full-time sentences

12. Guilty pleas Proportion (3 yr moving av) pleading guilty to ToR offences MSO, 2001-10 100% District Court: non- CSO 80% Maint. relationship 60% Carnal knowledge Indecent treatment 40% Unlawful sodomy 20% Rape 0% 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Source: Qld courts database maintained by OESR

13. Imprisonment no longer ‘last resort’ Proportion (3 yr mov avg) receiving impris (immed full-time or partially susp), MSO, District Court, 2001-10 Rape 100% Maint. sex r’ship 80% Unlawfulsodomy 60% Indecenttreat District Court non-CSO 40% 20% Carnalknowledge 0% 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Source: Qld courts database maintained by OESR

14. Increased maximum sentence Median length (3 yr mov avg) of immediate full-time imprisonment, MSO, higher courts, 2001-2010 8 Maintaining sexr’ship 7 6 5 Years 4 3 Indecenttreat 2 District Court non-CSO 1 0 2001 2002 2003 2004 2009 2005 2006 2007 2008 2010 Source: Qld courts database maintained by OESR

15. Sentences for children v adults • No sexual offences against adults are sufficiently parallel to sexual offences against children • Rape can be against children or adults • but, ‘age of victim’ field is very new, not reliably collected in courts data • Thus, used the quantitative data from coding of sentencing remarks

16. Sentencing remarks data • Transcripts of judges’ description of the case characteristics and reasons for the sentence • Source: Queensland Sentencing Information Service (QSIS) • ToR offence as the most serious offence • Higher courts (mainly District Court) • Looked at 2007-09 • 91% of relevant matters

17. Rape • 228 cases coded • Analysis sample (judge specified age of victim) in 68% of cases coded (n=156) • Victim under 16: 62% of analysis sample • Victim 16 or over: 38% of analysis sample

18. Sentences for children v adults

19. Summary of findings • Impact of 2003 legislation • guilty pleas: no strong evidence of impact; slight increase for all offences except ‘maintaining’ • receiving imprisonment: no real change • length of immediate full-time imprisonment: no real change • Sentencing of rape of children versus rape of adults (preliminary finding): adults receive longer immediate full-time imprisonment

20. Research publications Sentencing of Child Sexual Offences in Queensland: Research Paper (2011) Sentencing of Child Sexual Offences in Queensland: Final Report (2012)