GUILTY Australia - Andrew, 45, Rose, 44, & Chantelle Rowe, 16, slain, Kapunda, 8 Nov 2010 #3

[midsommer]

True Indizio.
She was underage, but surely a charge of rape would only be if it was not concentual.
The age of consent here is 16 - see http://www.lawhandbook.sa.gov.au/ch05s02s10.php
The sex may have been concentual and in that case the charge would be "carnal knowledge", not rape.

That said, plenty of underage kids are sexually active.

She notes on her myspace page that she has piercings - the age for legal piercings and tattoos is 16 in SA. http://www.lawhandbook.sa.gov.au/ch05s02s21.php

So not sure that the age of concent is relevant.

 

[midsommer]

Sorry...

Tattoos - 18
Piercings - 16

 

[James23]

her relationship status on Facebook was set as D**** P****.



The fact that he could still be charged with rape over that, due to her being under age, would be why he hasn't admitted to this. He could still receive 10 years imprisonment just for sex with a minor.

Absolutely no chance.

I know of people who have been 18 or 19 and had sex with 16 year olds, then a messy break up follows and the girls go running to the police. It ends up in court, but the case is pretty much thrown out without a conviction. The courts only seem to care if there is a much larger age gap, say 4+ years.

 

[indizio]

True Indizio.
She was underage, but surely a charge of rape would only be if it was not concentual.
The age of consent here is 16 - see http://www.lawhandbook.sa.gov.au/ch05s02s10.php
The sex may have been concentual and in that case the charge would be "carnal knowledge", not rape.

That said, plenty of underage kids are sexually active.

She notes on her myspace page that she has piercings - the age for legal piercings and tattoos is 16 in SA. http://www.lawhandbook.sa.gov.au/ch05s02s21.php

So not sure that the age of concent is relevant.

The law also states that some people cannot give consent to sexual intercourse. This includes:

• A person who has sexual intercourse with any person under the age of 14 years shall be guilty of an offence and liable to be imprisoned for life.
• A person who has sexual intercourse with a person under the age of seventeen years is guilty of an offence. Maximum penalty: Imprisonment for 10 years.
• A person who, being in a position of authority in relation to a person under the age of 18 years, has sexual intercourse with that person is guilty of an offence. Maximum penalty: Imprisonment for 10 years. The person in a position of authority could be a teacher, foster parent, step-parent, guardian, religious official or spiritual leader, medical practitioner, psychologist, social worker, person employed in correctional institution or training centre, or employer.

http://www.yarrowplace.sa.gov.au/booklet_law.html

 

[midsommer]

I agree with James23 on this.
Police do not take that sort of thing seriously.
It is so common and a waste of their time.

 

[tart]

now she is deceased they couldnt charge him with rape could they? wouldnt be able to prove if it was/wasnt concential

 

[mum73]

Again we must consider...is this additional charge a known fact? I know that it was reported in an overseas paper, but was it released here?

 

[tart]

no mum73 it wasnt reported here...but the overseas paper got his mothers name right so there may be some truth behind it...

 

[tart]

an 18 year old was jail in oz for sex with a minor a couple of weeks ago...they do charge them (sometimes)

 

[indizio]

now she is deceased they couldnt charge him with rape could they? wouldnt be able to prove if it was/wasnt concential

If she was deceased at the time he had sex with her, he can be charged with necrophilia.

If she was alive when he had sex with her, regardless of whether she gave consent or not, by law she is not in a position at that age to GIVE consent, so consent is by default 'not given'.

 

[midsommer]

CR's FB page did indeed show her relaitionship status as being in a relationship with DP, but that was apparently a very recent change.

This could be another reason why the alleged killer did not immediately go to police and say he had sex with her on Sunday.

Maybe he was concerned about how the b/f would react if he knew.

Maybe he thought it was best not to mention being in the house earlier.

Maybe this is the crux of the problem.

If he visitied CR and they had consentual sex, maybe he thought it was best to say nothing about it to the police. Perhaps he didn't realise that when it came out later, from DNA evidence, not telling the police earlier would make him look guilty.

If he didn't want his best mate to know about the sex, this would make sense.

Withholding that information may have been more about hiding it from his mate than hiding it from the police.

 

[JBean]

now she is deceased they couldnt charge him with rape could they? wouldnt be able to prove if it was/wasnt concential

FWIW,here in CA, it is rape regardless of whether the sex was consensual or not.

 

[tart]

isnt 16 years of age the age for sex in S.A??

 

[indizio]

If he visitied CR and they had consentual sex

I would just like to reiterate the fact that by law, it is impossible for it to be deemed consensual, and impossible for it to not be deemed non-consensual.

 

[indizio]

isnt 16 years of age the age for sex in S.A??

It's 17.

Used to be 16 for straight, 18 for homosexual.

They made it both 17 years to be non-discriminatory.

 

[Mrs G Norris]

now she is deceased they couldnt charge him with rape could they? wouldnt be able to prove if it was/wasnt concential

Non-consensual sex often leaves specific injuries which may prove a rape, even without her testimony to prove it, injuries that may also prove the rape happened at or near the time of death. Or maybe he had consensual sex with her, and then flipped his mad... but I doubt it.

 

[asha1972]

i think people forgetting statements by people as evidence. also, the owner/driver of the traytop may have given evidence that places him at the scene. they may have found things at his house (that we don't know about). he may have implicated himself in some way in a statement (things that only the killer could know)....lots of little things.

 

[tart]

can forensic people determine whether a person had sex before or after they were deceased??

 

[midsommer]

tart - I thought 16 too - then I looked it up and discovered it is 17

indizio - I see what you mean. In legal terms she could not consent because she was underage. However, that does not necisarilly mean she was forced against her will.

 

[anjay]

can we even take the rape charge as being 'real', I remember someone posting that it was reported in a scottish newspaper (but I have not been able to find it) and posted as being told to them by someone in the courtroom. but without a police statement or finding more than one msm story, then shouldn't we ignore it until the evidence is brought out?