Arthur Allan Thomas charged with rape

TVNZ report:

Police have now charged Thomas, 81, with sex offences including rape and indecent assault.

He has entered pleas of not guilty to the charges, which are historic, and has elected for trial by jury.

Presumably this has nothing to do with the Crewe murders, yet nevertheless this may make some people wonder about these still unsolved murders.

The maximum penalty for rape is life imprisonment. 

No it isn’t. Rape is a sub-set of sexual violation and S128B(1) of the Crimes Act 1962 states:

Every one who commits sexual violation is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 20 years.

Mind you at 82 years of age, it may be the same thing – if convicted.

Note this is a jury trial, so don’t speculate about guilt or innocence around this particular case.