Brian Houston Found Not Guilty of Concealing Child Sexual Abuse
Hillsong Church Founder Brian Houston has been cleared of accusations he concealed child sexual offences committed by his father, Frank Houston, in the 1970s. Brian Houston, who is a long time friend of former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, was...
Sexual Offences Against Young Persons Under ‘Special Care’ in New South Wales
The story of Chris Dawson, a high school teacher who married one of his former student’s after his wife Lynette’s disappearance in 1982 is a case that has gripped the nation. And justice for Lynette’s family has been a long...
The Offence of Using a Carriage Service to Procure a Child Under 16 for Sexual Activity
The deputy principal at a high school in Sydney’s south-west has been sentenced to more than three and a half years behind bars for sexting who he believed to be a 14-year old girl. Damian Wanstall’s LinkedIn profile hasn’t been...
Criminal Offences Related to Paying for Sexual Services in New South Wales
Although sex work has largely been decriminalised in New South Wales, criminal offences still apply to the purchase of sexual services in certain circumstances. Here is what you need to know as a client of sex workers. General Rules Regarding...
AI Generated Images Are Being Used To Catch Online Sexual Predators
The recent released film The Artifice Girl depicts the use of a fictitious child generated by artificial intelligence (AI) to lure and trap online child sexual predators. Whilst many features of the film are purely science fiction, police in Australia will often...
Is It a Crime to Lie About Your Age for Sex?
Getting older isn’t easy, particularly when it narrows your prospects in the dating game. It’s understandable that many are tempted to sneakily lower their age on Tinder or to tell a little white lie on a date, particularly if there’s...
Can Children Be Placed on The Child Sex Offender Register
Sexual offences against children are considered as some of the most serious criminal offences in our state, creating public outrage and leading to calls for not only heavy punishments, but mechanisms to reduce the likelihood of future offending. That being...
The Shameful History Of Calling LGBT People “Groomers”
A recent trend in conservative politics, particularly online, involves accusing LGBT people of “grooming” children - either into a particular sexual identity or to facilitate abuse. A strange focal point for this politics has been drag queens, female impersonators (often...
Bizarre Australian Criminal Cases: The Simpsons Porn Case
There are many bizarre cases that form part of Australian legal history, but perhaps none more vexing when it comes to balancing the often competing considerations of free speech on the one hand, and protecting the innocent on the other,...
Are ‘Recovered’ Memories of Childhood Abuse Reliable?
In the 1970s, a Canadian woman named Michelle Smith sought psychiatric treatment for depression following a miscarriage. Her psychiatrist, Lawrence Pazder, felt that her symptoms indicated early experiences of child sexual abuse, and he then used hypnosis to help “recover”...
