Client Accused of Raping a Child - Case Dropped

Case study summary

The complainant accused our client of raping her on three separate occasions when she was 13 years old. At the police interview, our expert sexual assault lawyer challenged the validity of the complaint and provided the client with advice. The police dropped the investigation.

Case study

Our client was a labourer who had turned 18 two weeks before he was accused of raping a 13-year-old child. He and his mother contacted our offices to ask that we represent him at his upcoming police interview.

The complainant said that our client had raped her on three separate occasions approximately two to three years ago when he would have been 15 years old. He allegedly invited the complainant and her friend to his home address where they drunk vodka. The complainant's friend left the address, and our client is then said to have taken the complainant upstairs and raped her. When the complainant's friend returned to the address, she told her what had happened.

The second rape allegedly occurred on a field after our client and the complainant had been smoking cannabis together. The complainant was not able to provide any details of the third rape.

Our client explained that he did not know who the complainant and her friend were. He denied raping her or inviting her into his home.

During the interview, one of our expert sexual assault solicitors asked the interviewing officer questions to challenge the validity of the complainant. From this, we were able to ascertain that the complainant's friend had refused to provide a witness statement to the police. The complainant was also no longer willing to support the prosecution.

We advised our client on the interview procedure and the investigation was closed due to a lack of evidence. Our client and his mother were relieved and are now able to move on with their lives.