SELECTED CASE LAW
ALBERTA:
In 2012 ABCA 384, Mr. C, a 29-year-old man, had been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for possessing, accessing and distributing about 4,600 pieces of child pornography.
Some of the pornography involved aggravated assault and violence and involved very young children and babies. Mr. C had also chatted with 213 people, including undercover police officers, about child pornography preferences and trading child pornography with them. The child pornography file sharing was associated with his work and home’s IP addresses. The activity occurred over several years.
Mr. C denied downloading the images onto his computer and tried to argue a hacker was responsible for them. There was evidence that Mr. C had downloaded the child pornography and no evidence of a hacker. Mr. C’s testimony was inconsistent and often contradicted.
He was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. Additional orders included limitations on be-ing near or communicating with children, a DNA order, a lifetime registration as a sex offender, and a forfeiture order of the two computers used in the offences.
The Crown appealed Mr. C’s sentence but the appeal judge did not find the sentence was too harsh. A dissenting judge would have increased the sentence to five years.
Also see: 2012 ABQB 333 (Sentencing); 2012 ABQB 196 (Trial.
Criminal Offence(s): Child Pornography Offences