Offenders who grab and drag their victim in a way that makes them fear they will be sexually assaulted could be jailed for up to 10 years under a proposal outlined by Victoria’s peak law reform body.
The Andrews government asked the Victorian Law Reform Commission (VLRC) to review “grab and drag” offences after a 2018 assault in which Jackson Williams grabbed a 39-year-old woman and dragged her into an alleyway.
He pinned her to the ground and laid on top of her before a passerby intervened.
The man was convicted of common law assault but found not guilty of intent to commit a sexual offence by the county court of Victoria.
The chair of the commission, Anthony North QC, said people harmed by this conduct experience a level of trauma that is not recognised under the current law.
“We believe there should be consequences for people who commit an assault that would make the victim fear they are about to be subjected to sexual violence,” he said.
“Changing the law would signal to the community the seriousness of this conduct.”
In the report by tabled in parliament on Wednesday, the VLRC recommended the Crimes Act be amended to create an “aggravating circumstance” to common law assault, which would cover situations where an assault would raise a fear that a sexual assault would follow.
It would introduce a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, compared with the five-year maximum for common assault.
The VLRC recommended the new aggravating circumstance include an “objective test”, based on whether a judge or jury believes the offender “should have understood … the effect their actions had on the person harmed.”
But the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) argued that changing the law would complicate a trial and could confuse a jury.
Williams was sentenced to a two-and-a-half year community correction order, including 200 hours of unpaid community work. Williams was unable to explain why he carried out the attack and said he could not remember the incident.
The judge hearing the case was unable to conclude that Williams intended to commit sexual assault and said it was plausible he had different motives, such as theft. The verdict triggered a public campaign, with more than 110,000 signatures on an online petition calling for legal reform to fill the gap between common assault and sexual assault.
The tabling of the report came as the government introduced reform to parliament that would overhaul victims of crime processes and give victims of up-skirting, grooming and image-based abuse access to financial support for the first time to help minimise trauma.
Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 802 9999. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
