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Being accused of a sexual offence can leave you facing immediate uncertainty about the police, your reputation, your career and what happens next. I provide defence representation in serious sexual offence cases, including advice during pre-charge criminal investigations and representation where proceedings progress to court.
Discover what happens after you are accused of a sexual offence with a London-based lawyer.
There is no single process or timetable that applies to every allegation. Broadly, a case may move through the following stages:
Some investigations end without charge. Others continue for a considerable period before a decision is reached.
What you should do at each stage depends upon the facts of your case. If you believe an allegation is untrue, my separate guidance explains what to do when falsely accused of a sexual offence.
You may become aware of an allegation in several ways.
The police might contact you directly. You may be invited to attend an interview. You may be arrested unexpectedly. In other cases, you might first learn of the allegation through an employer, professional body, another individual or circumstances surrounding a safeguarding investigation.
At this point, the information available to you may be limited.
You might not know precisely what has been alleged, what evidence the police have obtained or whether the matter will progress further.
That uncertainty can make people feel they need to explain themselves immediately. It is generally sensible to obtain appropriate legal advice before making decisions about how to respond to police questioning or contacting anybody involved in the allegation.
Where potentially relevant messages, emails, photographs, documents or other material exist, avoid deleting or altering them. Their significance can only be assessed properly in the context of the case.
A sexual offence investigation is a process of gathering and assessing evidence.
Depending on the allegation, police enquiries might involve:
The existence of an investigation does not establish that an allegation is true.
Evidence may need to be assessed for its relevance, reliability, completeness and context. Material apparently supporting one interpretation may take on a different significance when considered alongside other communications, records or evidence.
This can be particularly important in cases where consent, previous communications, chronology or competing accounts are central issues.
For allegations concerning events said to have happened many years ago, different evidential questions can arise. I provide separate guidance on historic sexual abuse defence .
One of the most important early stages is often the police interview.
You might be arrested and interviewed in custody, or the police may ask you to attend voluntarily.
A voluntary interview under caution is still a formal police interview. You are not under arrest and do not have to consent to being interviewed. You are generally free to leave unless you are subsequently lawfully arrested. You are also entitled to free legal advice, and what you say can be used in evidence.
If you are arrested and questioned at a police station, you also have a right to free and independent legal advice.
There is no universal answer.
The police caution makes clear that you do not have to say anything, but that it may harm your defence if you fail to mention when questioned something you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.
Whether to answer questions, provide a prepared statement, exercise the right to silence or take another approach requires advice based on the circumstances and the information available at the time.
This is why an interview should not be treated as an informal opportunity simply to “clear things up”.
If you have been contacted by the police but have not yet been charged, my pre-charge criminal defence page explains this stage in greater detail.
A police interview is not necessarily the end of the investigation.
Further enquiries may continue for weeks or months, and sometimes longer in complex cases.
The police may examine devices, obtain records, conduct additional interviews or ask third parties to provide information. New evidence may lead to further questions or enquiries.
During this stage you might be released on pre-charge bail, potentially subject to conditions, or released under investigation.
If you are released under investigation, you have not been charged, but the investigation remains open and the police can continue their enquiries.
This period can be particularly difficult because there may be little visible activity while important investigative work continues.
Being released without charge after an interview does not necessarily mean that the matter has ended.
It can be important to consider potentially relevant defence evidence before the charging decision rather than waiting to see what happens.
Depending on the case, this might include:
Do not assume that the police will automatically identify every piece of material that may assist your position.
In appropriate cases, consideration may also be given to whether engagement with investigators or carefully prepared pre-charge representations would be useful.
There is no guarantee that representations will prevent a charge. Whether they are appropriate depends upon the evidence, timing and circumstances of the individual case.
Once sufficient investigation has taken place, a decision must be made about whether criminal proceedings should follow.
In cases requiring a CPS charging decision, prosecutors apply the Code for Crown Prosecutors. Under the Full Code Test, they first consider whether there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction and, if that evidential stage is met, whether a prosecution is required in the public interest.
Possible outcomes can include:
A decision to take no further action means that a prosecution is not being pursued at that point. It should not automatically be treated as meaning that a matter could never be revisited if circumstances or evidence later change.
A decision to charge is also not a finding of guilt. It means that formal criminal proceedings will begin.
If a charge is brought, the case moves from investigation into formal court proceedings.
All adult criminal cases begin with a hearing in the Magistrates' Court. Serious cases, including rape and serious sexual assault, are then sent to the Crown Court.
The precise procedure depends on the offence and circumstances.
For a serious sexual allegation, subsequent stages can include:
Where a Crown Court case proceeds on a not guilty plea, a jury will ultimately determine the verdict on the evidence presented at trial.
If the allegation specifically concerns rape, my dedicated rape allegation defence barrister page explains the particular defence service available.
Once proceedings begin, careful preparation becomes increasingly important.
The defence needs to understand not only the allegation itself but the prosecution evidence supporting it.
This may involve examining:
Sexual offence cases can involve substantial quantities of electronic and documentary material. The importance of a message or record cannot necessarily be understood in isolation.
A proper defence requires the evidence to be considered within the wider chronology and circumstances of the case.
For professionals, the criminal investigation may be only one part of the problem.
Doctors, teachers, lawyers, police officers, academics, executives and other regulated or reputation-sensitive individuals may also need to consider possible:
These processes do not necessarily wait for a criminal trial to conclude.
A decision made in one forum can also have implications elsewhere, so the criminal case and professional position should be considered carefully rather than treated as completely separate problems.
I provide defence for professionals facing serious criminal allegations and can consider the interaction with professional tribunal proceedings where relevant.
If an allegation has recently emerged, the immediate priority is to avoid making the situation more difficult while you establish exactly what is happening.
Consider the following:
The correct strategy will depend upon the individual allegation.
No. An accusation can lead to an investigation, but not every investigation results in a criminal charge. The police may conduct further enquiries and the evidence must be considered before the relevant charging decision is made.
There is no fixed timetable. The time required can depend on the complexity of the allegation, digital examinations, witness enquiries, third-party records and other evidence. Some investigations take substantially longer than others.
You should be very cautious about doing so. Contact could be misunderstood, could become evidence itself or could conflict with bail or other restrictions. Obtain advice about your particular circumstances before making contact.
Potentially. Text messages, messaging applications, emails, photographs, social media and other digital material may form part of the evidential picture. Their relevance depends on what they show and the context in which they were created.
If the police or prosecution decide to take no further action, the criminal case will not proceed at that point. Professionals may nevertheless need separate advice about any regulatory, employment or disciplinary issues arising from the allegation or investigation.
Being accused of a sexual offence can create uncertainty long before anyone knows whether a charge will be brought.
I provide defence-only representation in serious sexual offence cases, from the early investigation and pre-charge stages through to potential Crown Court proceedings.
My role is to understand the allegation, examine the relevant evidence and legal issues, advise you on the stage you have reached and prepare appropriately for what may happen next.
You can read more about my wider sexual offence defence in London and across the UK or contact me confidentially to discuss your circumstances.
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