Territorial Court
Decision Information
Summary: 25 year old accused plead guilty to sexually assaulting 11 year old complainant. While accused was a trusted guest in the complainant's home, the accused took her to the bathroom and for a brief period placed his hand on the outside of the complainant's clothing between her legs, which traumatized her. Defence counsel argues this was not a major sexual assault. Court, however, finds that the effect of the incident on the victim is a significant factor the court is to take into consideration, and studies show that sexually abused children may never be able, as an adult, to form a loving, caring relationship with another adult, they may treat other children as he or she had been treated, and are more likely to manifest depression, self-destructive behavior, anxiety, feeling of isolation and poor self esteem, substance abuse, and have difficulty in trusting others. Mitigating factors the court did consider in sentencing the accused are that the accused plead guilty, he had no criminal record, the was cooperative with the police, the incident was brief, and that he made no verbal threats to the complainant.
Decision: Sentence determined - 1 month imprisonment followed by one year probation
Subjects: Criminal law - Sexual offences - Sexual assault