Section 474.27 Criminal Code Act 1995
Using Carriage Service to Groom Child Under 16

Using a carriage service to groom a person under the age of 16 years for sexual activity with you is an offence under section 474.27(1) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth), which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

To establish the offence, the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that:

1. You were at least 18 years of age
2. You used a carriage service to transmit a communication to another person (the recipient)
3. You did so intending to make it easier to procure the recipient to engage in sexual activity with you, and
4. The recipient was under 16 years of age, or you believed him or her to be under that age.

A ‘carriage service’ is:

‘a service for carrying communications by means of guided and/or unguided electromagnetic energy’, which includes telephone calls, text messages and internet transmissions such as emails and social media messaging.

‘Sexual activity’ includes a broad range of conduct of a sexual nature including sexual intercourse, sexual touching and masturbation.

To ‘procure’ is to encourage, entice, recruit or induce, whether by threats, promises or otherwise.

You are not guilty of the offence if you establish to the court on the balance of probabilities that you believed the recipient was at least 16 years of age.

For the purpose of establishing your belief about age, any representation made to you that the recipient was under, of or over a certain age is proof that you believed he or she was of the represented age, unless there is evidence to the contrary.

When determining your belief about age, the court may consider a range of matters including:

1. The recipient’s appearance
2. Any medical or other scientific opinion
3. Any document that is or appears to be an official or medical record from outside Australia, and
4. Any document that appears to be a copy of such a record.

It is immaterial that the recipient was a fictitious person representing themselves as a real person.

You may be found guilty even if it was impossible for the sexual activity to take place.

You are not guilty if you attempted but failed to convey the communication to the recipient.

Duress is a defence to the charge.

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Using a carriage service to groom a person under the age of 16 years for sexual activity with another is an offence under section 474.27(2) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth), which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

To establish the offence, the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that:

1. You used a carriage service to transmit a communication to another person (the recipient)
2. You did so intending to make it easier to procure the recipient to engage in sexual activity with another person (the participant)
3. The recipient was under 16 years of age, or you believed him or her to be under that age, and
4. The participant was at least 18 years of age, or you believed him or her to be at least that age.

A ‘carriage service’ is:

‘a service for carrying communications by means of guided and/or unguided electromagnetic energy’, which includes telephone calls, text messages and internet transmissions such as emails and social media messaging.

‘Sexual activity’ includes a broad range of conduct of a sexual nature, including sexual intercourse, sexual touching and masturbation.

To ‘procure’ is to encourage, entice, recruit or induce, whether by threats, promises or otherwise.

You are not guilty of the offence if you establish to the court on the balance of probabilities that you believed the recipient was at least 16 years of age, or the participant was under 18 years of age.

For the purpose of establishing your belief about age, any representation made to you that the recipient or participant was under, of or over a certain age is proof that you believed he or she was of the represented age, unless there is evidence to the contrary.

When determining your belief about age, the court may consider a range of matters including:

1. The recipient’s or participant’s appearance
2. Any medical or other scientific opinion
3. Any document that is or appears to be an official or medical record from outside Australia, and
4. Any document that appears to be a copy of such a record.

It is immaterial that the recipient was a fictitious person representing themselves as a real person.

You may be found guilty even if it was impossible for the sexual activity to take place.

You are not guilty if you attempted but failed to convey the communication to the recipient.

Duress is a defence to the charge.

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Using a carriage service to groom a child for sexual activity in your or another’s presence is an offence under section 474.27(3) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth), which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

To establish the offence, the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that:

1. You used a carriage service to transmit a communication to another person (the recipient)
2. You intended by doing so to make it easier to procure the recipient to engage in sexual activity with another (the participant)
3. The recipient was under the age of 16 years, or you believed him or her to be under that age
4. The participant was under the age of 18 years of age, or you believed him or her to be under that age, and
5. You intended for the sexual activity to take place in your presence, or in the presence of another person who was at least 18 years of age, or who you believed was at least 18 years of age.

A ‘carriage service’ is:

‘a service for carrying communications by means of guided and/or unguided electromagnetic energy’, which includes telephone calls, text messages and internet transmissions such as emails and social media messaging.

‘Sexual activity’ includes a broad range of conduct of a sexual nature including sexual intercourse, sexual touching and masturbation.

To ‘procure’ is to encourage, entice, recruit or induce, whether by threats, promises or otherwise.

You are not guilty of the offence if you establish to the court on the balance of probabilities that you believed the recipient was at least 16 years of age, or the participant was under 18 years of age.

For the purpose of establishing your belief about age any representation made to you that the recipient or participant was under, of or over a certain age is proof that you believed he or she was of the represented age, unless there is evidence to the contrary.

When determining your belief about age, the court may consider a range of matters including:

1. The recipient’s or participant’s appearance
2. Any medical or other scientific opinion
3. Any document that is or appears to be an official or medical record from outside Australia, and
4. Any document that appears to be a copy of such a record.

It is immaterial that the recipient was a fictitious person representing themselves as a real person.

You may be found guilty even if it was impossible for the sexual activity to take place.

You are not guilty if you attempted but failed to convey the communication to the recipient.

Duress is a defence to the charge.

---

Using a carriage service to groom another to procure a child to engage in sexual activity is an offence under section 474.27AA(1) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth), which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

To establish the offence, the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that:

1. You were at least 18 years of age
2. You used a carriage service to transmit a communication to another person (the recipient)
3. You did so intending to make it easier procure a child to engage in sexual activity, and
4. The child was under the age of 16 years, or you believed he or she was under that age.

A ‘carriage service’ is:

‘a service for carrying communications by means of guided and/or unguided electromagnetic energy’, which includes telephone calls, text messages and internet transmissions such as emails and social media messaging.

‘Sexual activity’ includes a broad range of conduct of a sexual nature, including sexual intercourse, sexual touching and masturbation.

To ‘procure’ is to encourage, entice, recruit or induce, whether by threats, promises or otherwise.

You are not guilty of the offence if you establish to the court on the balance of probabilities that you believed the child to be at least 16 years of age.

For the purpose of establishing your belief about age, any representation made to you that the person was under, of or over a certain age is proof that you believed he or she was of the represented age, unless there is evidence to the contrary.

When determining your belief about age, the court may consider a range of matters including:

1. The child’s appearance
2. Any medical or other scientific opinion
3. Any document that is or appears to be an official or medical record from outside Australia, and
4. Any document that appears to be a copy of such a record.

You may be found guilty even if it was impossible for the sexual activity to take place.

You are not guilty if you attempted but failed to convey the communication to the recipient.

Duress is a defence to the charge.

---

Using a carriage service transmit a communication to another intending to make it easier to groom a person under the age of 16 years is an offence under section 474.27AA(2) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth), which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

To establish the offence, the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that:

1. You used a carriage service to transmit a communication to another person (the recipient)
2. You did this intending to make it easier to procure a person under the age of 16 years (the child) to engage in sexual activity with another person (the participant)
3. The recipient was under 16 years of age, or you believed him or her to be under that age, an
4. The participant was at least 18 years of age, or you believed him or her to be at least that age.

A ‘carriage service’ is:

‘a service for carrying communications by means of guided and/or unguided electromagnetic energy’, which includes telephone calls, text messages and internet transmissions such as emails and social media messaging.

‘Sexual activity’ includes a broad range of conduct of a sexual nature, including sexual intercourse, sexual touching and masturbation.

To ‘procure’ is to encourage, entice, recruit or induce, whether by threats, promises or otherwise.

You are not guilty of the offence if you establish to the court on the balance of probabilities that you believed the child was at least 16 years of age, or the participant was under 18 years of age.

For the purpose of establishing your belief about age any representation made to you that the recipient or participant was under, of or over a certain age is proof that you believed he or she was of the represented age, unless there is evidence to the contrary.

When determining your belief about age, the court may consider a range of matters including:

1. The recipient’s or participant’s appearance
2. Any medical or other scientific opinion
3. Any document that is or appears to be an official or medical record from outside Australia, and
4. Any document that appears to be a copy of such a record.

It is immaterial that the child was a fictitious person represented as a real person.

You may be found guilty even if it was impossible for the sexual activity to take place.

You are not guilty if you attempted but failed to convey the communication to the recipient.

Duress is a defence to the charge.

---

Using a carriage service to groom another to engage in sexual activity with a child in your or another’s presence is an offence under section 474.27AA(3) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth), which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

To establish the offence, the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that:

1. You used a carriage service to transmit a communication to another person (the recipient)
2. You intended by doing so to make it easier to procure a child to engage in sexual activity with another (the participant)
3. The child was under the age of 16 years, or you believed him or her to be under that age
4. The participant was under 18 years of age, or you believed him or her to be under that age, and
5. You intended for the sexual activity to take place in your presence, or in the presence of another person who was at least 18 years of age, or who you believed was at least 18 years of age.

A ‘carriage service’ is:

‘a service for carrying communications by means of guided and/or unguided electromagnetic energy’ which includes telephone calls, text messages and internet transmissions such as emails and social media messaging.

‘Sexual activity’ includes a broad range of conduct of a sexual nature including sexual intercourse, sexual touching and masturbation.

To ‘procure’ is to encourage, entice, recruit or induce, whether by threats, promises or otherwise

You are not guilty of the offence if you establish to the court on the balance of probabilities that you believed the child was at least 16 years of age, or the participant was under 18 years of age.

For the purpose of establishing your belief about age any representation made to you that the recipient or participant was under, of or over a certain age is proof that you believed he or she was of the represented age, unless there is evidence to the contrary.

When determining your belief about age, the court may consider a range of matters including:

1. The recipient’s or participant’s appearance
2. Any medical or other scientific opinion
3. Any document that is or appears to be an official or medical record from outside Australia, and
4. Any document that appears to be a copy of such a record.

It is immaterial that the child was a fictitious person represented as a real person.

You may be found guilty even if it was impossible for the sexual activity to take place.

You are not guilty if you attempted but failed to convey the communication to the recipient.

Duress is a defence to the charge.

If you require Expert Legal Advice from an Experienced Criminal Defence Lawyer for your Using Carriage Service to Groom Child Under 16 matter, call Sydney Criminal Lawyers® today on (02) 9261 8881.

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