7BUncertainty about time when sexual offence occurred

7B Uncertainty about time when sexual offence occurred (a) conduct is alleged to have occurred at some time during a period; and (b) the conduct, if proven, would constitute a sexual offence at all times during that period; and (c) there is uncertainty as to when, during that period, the conduct allegedly occurred; and (d) because of a change in the law during that period, the conduct, if proven, would constitute one sexual offence before the change and a different sexual offence after the change. (2) A person may be charged with— (a) whichever of those sexual offences has the lowest maximum penalty; or (b) if both of the sexual offences have the same maximum penalty, the offence that the conduct, if proven, would have constituted before the change. (3) The means by which an offence may be charged in accordance with subsection (2) include— (a) including a charge for that offence in a fresh indictment within the meaning of section 164; or (b) amending an indictment under section 165 so that it includes a charge for that offence. (4) For the purposes of a proceeding that relates (wholly or partly) to an offence that is charged in accordance with subsection (2), the offence charged is taken to have been in force when the conduct allegedly occurred. (5) In any such proceeding, any requirement to prove that the complainant was of a particular age is satisfied if the prosecution proves that the complainant was of that age at some time during the period.