Sex crime unit funds home in new prosecutions office

Jessica Benton
A specialist unit to tackle sex offences will be part of a new Office of Public Prosecutions base in Geelong, state Attorney-General Rob Hulls has announced.
Mr Hulls opened the office on Wednesday to service courts in the Geelong, Ballarat, Hamilton and Warrnambool.
Director of public prosecutions Jeremy Rapke QC said the office would give victims who lived in western Victoria access to a level of services usually only available in Melbourne.
“The permanent presence of the state’s prosecution services in Geelong will translate into a better system of justice for western Victoria,” he said.
“(It will be) a system that puts a premium on reducing delay, gives victims of crime a voice and a centrality in the criminal justice process and that reduces the trauma and frustrations too readily associated with going to court.”
A spokesperson said the OPP had extended its Specialist Sexual Offences Unit to include the regional base in Geelong.
The unit would provide support to victims as well as prosecution of alleged sex offenders.
The spokesperson said the unit would work closely with police, victim support agencies, Department of Justice policy groups and legal and community “stakeholders” to provide training and education.