‘Paid for sex can be rape’

LONDONDERRY kerbcrawlers and brothel patrons who knowingly pay for sex with persons who are not freely consenting are indictable for rape, the Justice Minister David Ford has confirmed.

DUP MLA Lord Morrow asked the Minister of Justice David Ford whether he would amend legislation to upgrade the charge of knowingly engaging the services of a prostitute who has been coerced from a summary offence.

Lord Morrow wants to “ensure more severe penalties on conviction and the removal of the current statutory time barring.”

Mr Ford replied: “The current summary offence of paying for the services of a prostitute subjected to force is a strict liability offence, as it is in England and Wales.

“This means that the question of whether or not the individual knew that the prostitute was being subjected to force is irrelevant to that particular offence.

“If a person knowingly paid for sex with a person who was not freely consenting, the charge would be for a non-consensual offence such as rape, which is indictable.”

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