September 6, 1903: At Hillgrove, Armidale, New South Wales, fourteen year old Ellen Hocking has sex with eighteen year old Burgess Boland, (at that time the age of consent in this jurisdiction was 14). Later, she accuses him of rape, but admits under oath that she consented. The defence lawyer alluded to her as a lying young hussy. At that time, Boland could have been sentenced to death. The last execution for rape in Australia was September 26, 1932; in 1911, David Bennett was given a life sentence for rape, but was released after only six years going on to rape again, this time his victim was 4 years old.
Here is the relevant article; this was added June 12, 2023. I did not add it initially because it is so faint. I also gave the wrong citation, if you can believe that. It is from page 5, not page 8. The original scan can be found in the Trove database where you may find it slightly more legible due to its text converter.
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