Queensland Consolidated Acts Queensland Consolidated Acts(1) Any adult who uses electronic communication with intent to—
(a) procure a person under the age of 16 years, or a person the adult believes is under the age of 16 years, to engage in a sexual act, either in Queensland or elsewhere; or
(b) expose, without legitimate reason, a person under the age of 16 years, or a person the adult believes is under the age of 16 years, to any indecent matter, either in Queensland or elsewhere;
commits a crime.
Editor's note—
See section 1 for the definition of indecent matter.
Maximum penalty—5 years imprisonment.
(2) The adult is liable to 10 years imprisonment if the person is—
(a) a person under 12 years; or
(b) a person the adult believes is under 12 years.
(3) For subsection (1)(a), a person engages in a sexual act if the person—
(a) allows a sexual act to be done to the person's body; or
(b) does a sexual act to the person's own body or the body of another person; or
(c) otherwise engages in an act of an indecent nature.
(4) Subsection (3) is not limited to sexual intercourse or acts involving physical contact.
(5) For subsection (1)(a), it is not necessary to prove that the adult intended to procure the person to engage in any particular sexual act.
(6) Also, for subsection (1)(a), it does not matter that, by reason of circumstances not known to the adult, it is impossible in fact for the person to engage in the sexual act.
(7) For subsection (1), it does not matter that the person is a fictitious person represented to the adult as a real person.
(8) Evidence that the person was represented to the adult as being under the age of 16 years, or 12 years, as the case may be, is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, proof that the adult believed the person was under that age.
(9) It is a defence to a charge under this section to prove the adult believed on reasonable grounds that the person was at least 16 years, or 12 years, as the case may be.
(10) In this section—
electronic communication means email, internet chat rooms, SMS messages, real time audio/video or other similar communication.
procure means knowingly entice or recruit for the purposes of sexual exploitation.