Men to get lighter sentences for incest

The Government has agreed to impose lighter sentences for men convicted of incest because of a need to introduce equal sentences for women convicted of the same crime.

Ministers approved the Criminal Law Sexual Offences Amendment Bill which will introduce stricter penalties for repeat sexual offenders and equalise the maximum penalties for incest at 10 years for both male and female offenders.

This is to fix an anomaly that saw men subject to penalties of up to a life imprisonment but women would subject to a maximum sentence of seven years in jail.