there probably would have been no voluntary complaint, the answer is inadmissible. (u) SECTION 5. girl between 13 and 16 years of age. Any person who-(1) Unlawfully (r) and carnally Defilement of knows (y) or attempts (z) to have unlawful carnal knowledge of any girl being of or above the age (a) of thirteen years and under the age of sixteen years, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and being convicted thereof shall be liable at the discretion of the Court to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding two years, with or without hard. labour. (2) Unlawfully and carnally knows, or attempts to Attempt. have (2) unlawful carnal knowledge of any female idiot or imbecile (a) woman or girl, under circumstances which do not amount to rape, but which prove that the offender knew at the time of the commission of the offence that the woman or girl was an idiot or imbecile. To this section two provisoes are added: (1) It shall be a sufficient defence to any charge under Provisoes. the above section if it shall be made to appear to the Court or jury before whom the charge shall be brought, that the person so charged had reasonable cause (b) to believe that the girl was of or above the age of sixteen. (2) That no prosecution shall be commenced under it more than six (b) months after the commission of the offence. (a) Imbecile.—“A person to answer that description under this Act must be either incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of the act in question, or incapable of exercising an act of her own will in giving or withholding her consent, and this incapacity must arise from want (u) Per Ridley, J., id., p. 291. (x) Sec. 4, n. (a), p. 56. (y) Id. n. (b), p. 57. (z) Id. n. (d). (a) Id. n. (c). C. (b) The time limit was three months until this proviso was amended by the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act, 1904, 4 Edw. 7, c. 15, s. 27. F of understanding." (e) Idiocy is dementia naturalis. A lunatic would not be either an idiot or an imbecile person within the meaning of this section. (b) Reasonable cause. This is a question for the jury. They are entitled to judge by the appearance of the girl whether or not she might reasonably have been supposed by the defendant to be over a certain age. (d) They should also take into account the circumstances under which the defendant met her, as, e.g., if she were in the streets apparently as a prostitute. Her own statement as to her age would of course be primâ facie "reasonable cause," but if the defendant had other means of knowledge which showed her statement to be probably false, he would not be excused. (c) Six months.-Month, of course, means calendar month.(e) The Act originally read three months, but the time has now been extended to six.(ƒ) It is not necessary that the charge should be brought specifically under the section within the six months. In a case where a man was charged with a rape alleged to have happened within three months of such charge and was committed for trial on that charge only, and the prosecution at the assizes, which did not take place until after the three months had expired, indicted him under the section, it was held that he was properly so indicted. (g) (d) Attempt.-On an indictment charging unlawful carnal knowledge under this section, the defendant may be convicted of the attempt, in accordance with the provisions of 14 & 15 Vict. c. 100, s. 9, although there is no count in the indictment charging such attempt, (h) but he cannot be convicted of an indecent assault, this section not being covered by section 9. (i) Semble, however, (c) Per Willis, J., R. v. Turner, C.C.C. Sess. Papers, Sept. 17, 1886. (d) R. v. Viasani, 30 J. P. 758. (e) 52 & 53 Vict. c. 63, s. 3. (f) 4 Edw. 7, c. 15, s. 27. (g) Reg. v. West [1898] 1 Q. B. 174. (h) R. v. Adams, 50 J. P. 136. (i) See post, p. 174. he might be found guilty of a common assault if the phraseology of the indictment could be construed to charge an indecent assault. (k) abet. It has been suggested by several learned authorities (1) Aid and that the girl might also be indicted under either sections 4 or 5 for aiding and abetting, or for soliciting and enticing, the commission of the offences made punishable under those sections. The case of R. v. Tyrrell (m) has, however, now decided that this Act, having been framed for the protection of girls, cannot be made use of to punish them. That girls under sixteen years of age are frequently of the most depraved character, and often at least equally guilty with the boys and men who yield to their solicitations, cannot be doubted, and it may therefore seem good to the Legislature at some future time to take measures for their punishment. In offences under this section note: (1) A reasonable belief that the girl was over the age of sixteen is a good defence. (2) The prosecution must be commenced within six months. (3) The general remarks in the summary to the previous section apply. Evidence for the Prosecution. The duty lies on the prosecution of calling satisfactory evidence on the following points: (1) The act of connection.-The girl herself should be called. If her evidence is not given on oath she must be corroborated; in all cases she should be. In the former case the corroboration must "implicate the accused"; in the latter it need not necessarily do so. (2) Corroboration.-The facts that she made an immediate complaint and that medical evidence shows her to (k) R. v. Guthrie, ante, p. 62. (Per Hawkins, J., R. v. Byrom, 56 J. P. 815; see also Mead and Bodkin, p. 26. have been outraged by some one, are corroboration of her story, but not such corroboration as to "implicate the accused." The fact that the accused was with the girl at the time of the alleged offence under such circumstances as to make the commission of the offence possible, would be such corroboration; so would the fact that the accused and the child were both suffering from a similar contagious disorder. (3) Age of the child.-Call a witness to produce a copy of the birth certificate obtained from the proper office, and a witness to identify the child as being the child mentioned in it; and call a parent or near relative to identify the child as being the person mentioned in such birth certificate. It must be remembered that this is not an offence to which section 17 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act applies, and the age must therefore be strictly proved. (4) Penetration.-If the full offence is charged, penetration, however slight, must be proved, and this should be done by calling a properly qualified medical man, who has examined the child. Defence. The defendant is entitled to an acquittal if he can show -on a charge under section 4, that the child having given her evidence not on oath was uncorroborated; on a charge under section 5 either: : (1) That the prosection was not instituted within six months of the crime; (2) That the defendant had reasonable cause to believe, either from the girl's appearance, or from the circumstances under which he met her, or from her own statement to him, that she was over sixteen years of age; (3) Or that the alleged acts only amounted to indecent assault to which the girl was a consenting party. for cruelty to children. 1 (1) If any person over the age (a) of sixteen years who has Punishment the custody, charge, or care (b) of any child under the age (a) of sixteen years, wilfully (c) assaults, (d) ill-treats, (e) neglects, (ƒ) abandons, (g) or exposes (g) such child, or causes or procures such child to be assaulted, ill-treated, neglected, abandoned, or exposed in a manner likely to cause (h) such child unnecessary suffering, or injury to its health (including injury to or loss of sight, or hearing, or limb, or organ of the body, and any mental derangement (i) that person shall be guilty of a misdemeanour; and (a) on conviction on indictment, shall be liable, at the discretion go for trial if he desires to do so, |