Even before he became a New South Wales police officer in 2011, Vaughan Mark Hildebrand had developed a scheme to blackmail women into having sexual intercourse with him. His employment as an officer of the law merely gave him the authority and power he craved to better execute it. The now 44-year old pleaded guilty ...
Category: Sex Offences
#Nuns Too Speak Out About Their Sexual Abuse at the Hands of Catholic Priests
Senior Catholic Church officials from around the world are due to meet in Rome later this month to discuss their response to the sexual abuse crisis that has engulfed the institution. Although until recently, the primary focus has been the sexual abuse of boys by priests and other Church members, women are now also beginning ...
Prison for Police Officer who Groomed Vulnerable Teen
A Victorian Police officer who groomed a vulnerable teenager for sexual relations has spent his first night in prison, after a Victorian Judge sentenced him to 10 months behind bars. Officer Vikram Gopinath met the teen when she was just thirteen. Coming from a troubled home, she had a number of brushes with the law ...
NSW Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Sharing Arrested Woman’s Intimate Images
A former NSW police officer will be sentenced next month after admitting that he illegally shared the intimate images of a woman he arrested. The incident 29-year old Steven Albee was a senior constable with the NSW Police Force stationed at Nepean Local Area command when, in April 2017, he performed a traffic stop on ...
Woman Imprisoned for False Sexual Assault Allegations
A former police worker has been sentenced to a minimum of two years behind bars after she pleaded guilty to falsely accusing her ex-partner of sexual assault. 28-year old Sarah-Jane Parkinson entered pleas in November last year to two counts of making a false accusation to police and two of public mischief, after claiming to ...
The Offence of Threatening to Distribute Intimate Images in NSW
National Rugby League (NRL) player Paul Carter has strenuously denied allegations that he leaked intimate images of former Sydney Roosters teammate Dylan Napa as part of an extortion campaign. It has been reported that Mr Napa and his lawyers met with the NRL Integrity Unit to discuss information that Carter received threats by way of ...
Dutton’s Child Sex Offender Register Proposal Is Political Fodder
As the nation was still recovering from the holiday season, Australian home affairs minister Peter Dutton announced a proposal to establish a national public register of child sex offenders, which would make information about convicted criminals available online. Describing it as “the toughest crackdown on paedophiles in Australia’s history”, Dutton told reporters on 8 January that ...
Are the Sentences Imposed for Sexual Offences in NSW Too Soft?
Radio shock-jocks, tabloid newspapers and even populist politicians will often claim that members of the judiciary are too soft-on crime, and on sex offenders in particular. They claim the sentences handed-down do not sufficiently reflect the criminality of the conduct, going so far as to call the state’s sentencing practices a ‘joke’. Putting aside the ...
Dozens of NSW Police Officers Charged with Assault and Sexual Offences
Police offers swear an oath to uphold and enforce the law, but what happens when officers themselves are themselves charged with violent of sexual offences? It has been reported that since October 2016, 30 New South Wales police officers have been charged with offences ranging from reckless damage and common assault through to child sex ...
Hollywood Star Accused of Sexual Touching
It has been reported that Hollywood star Kevin Spacey will be prosecuted in the United States over allegations he performed a sexual act upon an 18-year old at a Massachusetts bar in July 2016. Boston journalist Heather Unruh accused Mr Spacey last year of plying her son with alcohol before reaching down the young man’s ...