WARRNAMBOOL police have warned anyone who commits sexual assault crimes – no matter how long ago – can expect to be dealt with the full force of the law.
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Police said a 22 per cent increase of sexual assaults from 2015 to 2016 was largely due to a rise in reports of historical incidents.
Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Chris Asenjo said the main aim for police was to get the best result for the victim. He said people who committed sexual assaults should expect to be investigated, charged and dealt with by the courts.
“We have vastly improved the way we investigate sexual assaults,” he said. “The vast majority of sexual assaults are committed by someone known to them.
“For anyone who is a victim of sexual assault or knows someone – they’re not alone.
“Just because someone comes in and talks about an incident doesn’t mean someone will necessarily be formally charged with it. We take a victim-centric approach to our investigation. We want to empower them.”
Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Asenjo said better training for sexual assault investigations along with dedicated family violence teams had helped ensure better results and greater community confidence.
“We really buy into improving the referral process, so when someone reports a crime, if they’re a victim of sexual assault they may need to be linked in with counselling, or housing, or jobs,” he said. “We’re trying to break the cycle by engaging other services.”
