Sex crime laws ‘fail’ people with disabilities

CURRENT laws do not protect people with intellectual disabilities from most sexual crimes, according to the Law Reform Commission.

The commission is recommending that anyone convicted in the higher courts of a sexual offence against such a person could receive a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment.

The LRC, which is the country’s statutory independent legal advisory body, also said the law does not empower two people with intellectual disabilities to engage in consensual sex.