Sexual activity in the presence of a child aged under 16

Legislation: Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) s 49F(1)

Maximum penalty: 10 years imprisonment

Period: 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2024

Jurisdiction: higher courts

Charges

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Cases

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Standard sentence

All outcomes

Males

Females

Aged under 25

Aged 25 to 54

Aged 55 and over

*Note: unavailable options have under 10 cases

Charge data

In the higher courts, 56 charges of sexual activity in the presence of a child aged under 16 were sentenced in the five years to 30 June 2024. The most common sentence for a charge of this offence was imprisonment (92.9% or 52 charges).

On SACStat, a charge is a single count of a sentenced offence. Charge data is most useful in understanding how a specific crime is usually sentenced.

Case data

In the higher courts, sexual activity in the presence of a child aged under 16 was the principal proven offence (the most serious crime in the case) in fewer than 10 cases in the five years to 30 June 2024. Therefore, outcomes for cases are not given for this offence.

Bar graph showing sentence types imposed for charges of sexual activity in the presence of a child aged under 16 — **Figure 1**: Sentencing outcomes for all charges of sexual activity in the presence of a child aged under 16
**Number: 56 charges**

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths for charges of sexual activity in the presence of a child aged under 16 — **Figure 2**: Imprisonment lengths for charges of sexual activity in the presence of a child aged under 16
**Number: 52 charges**
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 0.33 years, the longest is 4 years, and the median is 1.5 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 1.5 years and half are above.
**Note**: The graph only includes imprisonment that was not part of an aggregate sentence (non-aggregate imprisonment).

Stacked bar graph showing sentences imposed each year for charges of sexual activity in the presence of a child aged under 16 — **Figure 6**: Sentencing outcomes for all charges of sexual activity in the presence of a child aged under 16 by financial year
**Number: 56 charges**

Bar graph showing the number of charges each year for the offence of sexual activity in the presence of a child aged under 16 — **Figure 7**: Number of charges of sexual activity in the presence of a child aged under 16 by financial year
**Number: 56 charges**

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths each year for charges of sexual activity in the presence of a child aged under 16 — **Figure 8**: Average imprisonment lengths for charges of sexual activity in the presence of a child aged under 16 by financial year
**Number: 52 charges**
**Note**: The graph only includes imprisonment that was not part of an aggregate sentence (non-aggregate imprisonment).

Bar graph showing the number of charges of sexual activity in the presence of a child aged under 16 subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 23**: Sentencing outcomes for charges of standard sentence offences of sexual activity in the presence of a child aged under 16
**Number: 35 charges**

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths for of charges of sexual activity in the presence of a child aged under 16 subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 24**: Imprisonment lengths for charges of standard sentence offences of sexual activity in the presence of a child aged under 16
**Number: 33 charges**
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 0.75 years, the longest is 4 years, and the median is 2 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 2 years and half are above.

Stacked bar graph showing sentences imposed each year from 2018-19 to 2022-23 for charges of sexual activity in the presence of a child aged under 16 subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 25**: Sentencing outcomes for charges of standard sentence offences of sexual activity in the presence of a child aged under 16 by financial year
**Number: 35 charges**

Bar graph showing the number of charges each year between 2018-19 and 2022-23 for the offence of sexual activity in the presence of a child aged under 16 subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 26**: Number of charges of standard sentence offences of sexual activity in the presence of a child aged under 16 by financial year
**Number: 35 charges**

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths each year between 2018-19 and 2022-23 for charges of sexual activity in the presence of a child aged under 16 subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 27**: Average imprisonment lengths for charges of standard sentence offences of sexual activity in the presence of a child aged under 16 by financial year
**Number: 33 charges**
**Note**: The graph only includes imprisonment that was not part of an aggregate sentence (non-aggregate imprisonment).