If you’ve been accused: urgent first steps
Allegations of sexual offending can be made to police very easily, and investigations often run for weeks before a charging decision is made. What you do in that window shapes the whole case.
- Do not answer calls or messages from the person making the allegation. A common police tactic is the pretext call: the complainant phones you, at police request, hoping you will apologise or explain. Those calls are typically recorded, and even innocent-sounding words (“I’m sorry about that night”) become prosecution evidence.
- Do not take part in a police interview before getting advice. You cannot talk your way out of an allegation, but you can talk your way into a charge. An innocent explanation, given without knowing what the complainant has said, can be twisted to fit the narrative.
- Preserve everything. Messages, photos, ride-share records, and witnesses’ names. The material that supports your account has a habit of disappearing with time.
- Tell no one except your lawyer. These allegations are reputation-critical, and things said to friends can become witness statements. Everything you tell us is privileged and confidential.
If bail is or may become an issue, we can negotiate with police before charge so that any arrest happens on your terms, or prepare an urgent bail application.
Sexual offence charges and penalties in Queensland
The main offences (maximum penalties under the Criminal Code (Qld), as at 30 August 2026):
| Charge | Maximum penalty |
|---|---|
| Rape (s 349) | Life imprisonment |
| Attempted rape (s 350) | 14 years |
| Assault with intent to commit rape (s 351) | 14 years |
| Sexual assault (s 352) | 10 years (14 or life with aggravating circumstances) |
| Indecent treatment of a child under 16 (s 210) | 14 years (20 years if the child is under 12, or under care/guardianship or with an impairment of the mind) |
| Grooming a child under 16, or their parent or carer (s 218B) | 5 years (10 years if the child is under 12) |
| Using electronic communication to procure a child under 16 (s 218A) | 10 years (14 years if the child is under 12, or if the adult intentionally meets the child or goes to a place intending to meet them) |
Grooming and online procuring charges have their own elements, and the “child” can be an undercover operative or a fictitious profile. Our guide to online grooming offences in Queensland explains what s 218B and s 218A each cover, and how the Commonwealth carriage-service charges sit alongside them.
What is the maximum penalty for rape in Queensland?
The maximum penalty for rape under s 349 of the Criminal Code (Qld) is life imprisonment, as at 30 August 2026. A person rapes another if, without the other person’s consent, they engage in penile intercourse, penetrate the other’s vulva, vagina or anus with a body part or thing that is not a penis, or penetrate the other’s mouth with a penis. A child under 12 cannot legally consent. What counts as “consent” changed on 23 September 2024 (see below), so the answer to whether an act was rape can depend heavily on when it is alleged to have happened.
What is the maximum penalty for sexual assault in Queensland?
Sexual assault under s 352 carries a maximum of 10 years imprisonment in its base form (unlawful and indecent assault, or procuring or witnessing an act of gross indecency without consent), rising to 14 years where the act involves contact between the mouth and genitals or anus. The maximum increases again to life imprisonment where the offender is or pretends to be armed with a dangerous or offensive weapon, is in company with another person, or the offence involves the complainant being penetrated. Which bracket applies is often contested and turns closely on the evidence.
What is the maximum penalty for indecent treatment of a child in Queensland?
Indecent treatment of a child under 16 under s 210 covers unlawfully or indecently dealing with a child, procuring or permitting an indecent act, wilfully exposing a child to an indecent act, or (without legitimate reason) exposing a child to, or taking indecent images of, a child under 16. The maximum penalty is 14 years imprisonment where the child is aged 12 to 15. It rises to 20 years where the child is under 12, where the child is the offender’s lineal descendant or is in the offender’s guardianship or care, or where the child has an impairment of the mind; each of those circumstances independently caps the sentence at 20 years rather than stacking.
If you’ve been charged with any of these offences, the single most useful thing you can read next is our stage-by-stage guide to what happens after a sexual offence charge in Queensland: the police interview, bail, committal and what to expect at each step.
A conviction can also bring reportable offender obligations: years of reporting to police, and since Daniel’s Law commenced on 31 December 2025, potential public disclosure for some offenders. Our reportable offender guide explains the regime.
Consent and the 2024 affirmative-consent reform
Most contested sexual offence cases turn on consent, and the law of consent changed fundamentally on 23 September 2024. For alleged offences after that date, Queensland has an affirmative consent model: consent means free and voluntary agreement, a person who says and does nothing is not taken to consent, and the mistake of fact excuse is generally unavailable unless the accused said or did something to ascertain consent. The accused’s intoxication has been irrelevant to the reasonableness of any mistaken belief since 2021.
Critically, the new rules apply only to offences alleged to have been committed wholly after 23 September 2024. Allegations about earlier events (and many complaints are made years later) are decided under the previous law, where the mistake of fact excuse is significantly broader. Working out which regime applies, and running the consent case accordingly, is one of the first strategic decisions in every matter.
We cover this in depth in our guides to affirmative consent in Queensland and the mistake of fact excuse.
Evidence and police investigations
In sex offence cases, police try to gather as much evidence as possible to prove the complaint. The first step is to get a statement from the complainant (alleged victim), which is recorded on video if they’re a child. They then gather statements from family, friends, doctors, or other witnesses who were told about the allegations.
Quite often there is no physical evidence, with some complaints coming years after the alleged conduct, so the strength of the case comes down to the reliability and honesty of the person making the complaint, and on what you have said or written. If you have already done a police interview, or made admissions in a pretext call, those statements can be used against you unless we can have them excluded.
How these cases move through the courts
Rape cannot be dealt with in the Magistrates Court; a contested charge is committed to the District Court for trial before a jury of twelve. A charge of sexual assault without aggravating circumstances can only be finalised in the Magistrates Court in limited cases, so contested sexual assault charges also end up before a jury.
Before trial, the matter passes through a committal in the Magistrates Court. The rules here are strict and often misunderstood, particularly the limits on cross-examining a complainant: our guide to what happens after a sexual offence charge walks through the committal process stage by stage, including the protections that apply to adult complainants and to child witnesses.
Used properly, the committal is still a powerful tool: disclosure can be tested, expert and investigative evidence probed, and charges are sometimes discontinued or downgraded before they ever reach a jury. But it has to be done within these rules, and the strategy differs case by case.
Defences
Every defence starts with the evidence, not a template. The recurring battlegrounds are:
- Consent: under whichever consent regime applies to the alleged offence date, including (where available) the mistake of fact excuse;
- Reliability and credibility: inconsistencies in accounts, motive to fabricate, contamination of a child’s account by adults, and delayed complaint context;
- Identification: where the allegation involves a stranger or a compromised memory;
- Whether the act occurred at all: in many cases the defence case is simply that the allegation is false, and the trial is about whether the prosecution can prove otherwise beyond reasonable doubt.
The tactical steps taken through the matter (disclosure fights, committal strategy, evidentiary objections, and the decision whether you give evidence) matter as much as the trial itself. Trial counsel is never an afterthought: we hand-pick the barrister for your trial from counsel whose work in sexual-offence trials we know first-hand, and we prepare every trial as if it will be won or lost on the details, because it usually is.
Pleading guilty: sentencing and alternatives
If the evidence is strong and you decide to plead guilty, careful preparation still changes outcomes. For sexual offences against children under 16, s 9(4) of the Penalties and Sentences Act makes actual imprisonment the starting point unless there are exceptional circumstances; for other offences the full sentencing range is in play, and outcomes like probation without a recorded conviction are achievable in the right case. See our real outcomes below.
In appropriate matters, justice mediation can also be explored: a restorative process that, where the prosecution agrees and it resolves successfully, can result in charges being withdrawn. It is not available or appropriate in every case, but it should always be considered; we have had charges resolved this way, including serious ones.
We also prepare the material that sentencing courts act on: psychologists’ reports, treatment engagement, references, and a properly negotiated schedule of facts.
Discretion and confidentiality
We understand that with these allegations, the process itself is a punishment: your job, your profession, your family and your reputation are all exposed. Your matter is handled personally and discreetly, appointments can be made by phone or video, and nothing about your case (including the fact you contacted us) is discussed with anyone without your instructions. You will get honest, non-judgmental advice about where you actually stand.
Why you need George Criminal Lawyers
Defending sexual offence allegations is one of the core focuses of our practice. With our tailored and careful approach we have defended and won many jury trials in this area, and prevented recorded convictions and imprisonment for clients who have chosen to plead guilty. It is vital that this sort of matter is approached with the utmost care and skill, because the wrong move early (an interview, an answered phone call, a missed disclosure fight) can have permanent consequences.
Contact us now for confidential advice, any time. Your future depends on it.
Frequently asked questions
Should I talk to police to “clear things up”?
Not before getting advice. In sexual offence investigations the interview is rarely about giving you a chance to explain; it is about locking in your account before you know the allegation’s details. Once we know the picture, we will give you clear advice about whether an interview could ever help you. Sometimes it can; usually it cannot.
The complainant keeps calling me. What do I do?
Do not answer, and do not return the calls or reply to messages. Pretext calls arranged by police are standard practice in Queensland, and apologies or explanations given on them are routinely the strongest evidence at trial. Tell us it is happening. It usually signals where the investigation is up to.
Will my case be in the news?
Most matters attract no publicity at all. Since late 2023, Queensland law has generally allowed media to identify an adult accused of a sexual offence once charged, though complainants cannot be identified, and a court can make a non-publication order in some circumstances. We factor reputation protection into how the matter is run and can advise about publication risks, and about applying for a non-publication order, in your specific situation.
What happens if I’m convicted?
Penalties range up to life imprisonment for rape, and a conviction for a sexual offence against a child brings a presumption of actual custody plus reportable offender obligations. But conviction is not the inevitable outcome of a charge: many cases are discontinued, downgraded or won at trial, and sentencing outcomes vary enormously with preparation. Get advice about your actual position rather than assuming the worst.
Real client outcomes
Trial: Rape
Trial: Indecent Treatment & Rape
Sentence: Sexual Assault
Charges Withdrawn: Rape
Trial: Grooming & Indecent Treatment
Trial: Rape (Workplace Allegation)
Worried about what happens next?
Speak confidentially with an experienced criminal defence lawyer. No judgement, no obligation. Available 24/7 for urgent matters.
