SELECTED CASE LAW
BRITISH COLUMBIA:
In 2012 BCCA 377, Mr. A pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography for the purposes of distribution and sexually assaulting Mr. R.
He was sentenced to 42 months’ imprisonment. Additional orders included a 10-year registration as a sex offender.
A report to the Toronto police by the FBI identified Mr. A, a 51-year-old man, as possessing an extensive child pornography collection on a peer-to-peer website. An undercover police officer from Toronto began communicating with Mr. A who sent the officer 6,700 images of child pornography.
Upon a police search, 880,000 individual images, videos, online chat conversations, and written child pornography were found on Mr. A’s computers. Most of the content fell into the extreme side of child pornography, including content of babies, infants and young children being brutally sexually assaulted, content that was “nothing less than torture” and conversations about brutally abusing young children and purposely spreading HIV to his victims. One internet chat led to Mr. R, a 14-year-old boy, who had been sexually assaulted by Mr. A.
The Crown appealed the sentence and argued the sex offender registration should have been for life. The Court of Appeal increased the sentence to 6 years and Mr. A’s sexual registration was made for life.
Also see: 2012 BCSC 215 (Sentencing).
Criminal Offence(s): Sexual Assault, Child Pornography Offences