Introduction
Today I will break down the offence of sexual assault, which is created by section 4 of the Sexual Offences Act, Chapter 8:03, Laws of Guyana (the SOA).
Under the Sexual Offences Act, sexual assault happens when an accused touches the alleged victim in a sexual way, causes the alleged victim to touch him or her in a sexual way, causes the alleged victim to touch a third party in a sexual way, or otherwise indecently assaults the alleged victim. Additionally, the alleged victim must not be consenting, and or the circumstances must be such that the accused cannot reasonably believe that the alleged victim is reasonably consenting.
A person found guilty of sexual assault is liable to conviction for five years if convicted on summary trial, and ten years if convicted on an indictment. Sexual assault is therefore a triable either way offence, which means it may be tried either summarily or on indictment, although this offence will usually be tried summarily.