SELECTED CASE LAW
ALBERTA:
In 2005 ABCA 423, Mr. F, a 39-year-old man, pleaded guilty to making child pornography of a 14-year-old girl.
Mr. F had bought the girl cigarettes and then told her she could make thousands of dollars sell-ing sexual images of herself on the internet. On the pretext of her starting a modelling career, he showed her some images online that he claimed to have taken and then took 41 pictures of her in a motel and paid her $40 for the session. There was no sexual activity in the images, but the images were sexual and of the girl in various stages of undress. The girl’s mother discovered the girl was not at school at that time and reported it.
After Mr. F was arrested, he asked his girlfriend to delete the images from his computer and to get the camera. She did not and cooperated with the police.
At trial he was sentenced to 14 months in jail and 18 months’ probation. He appealed his sentence first, arguing the trial judge did not properly consider the type of pornographic images when deciding on the seriousness of the offence and second, that the principles of denunciation and deterrence were overemphasized. On appeal, Mr. F argued his sentence should be served in the community rather than in jail.
The appeal judge rejected his first argument, having viewed the images and properly assessed them, and found that the sentence was fit for the crime. The appeal was dismissed.
Also see: [2005] AJ No 1077 (ABPC) (Sentencing).
Criminal Offence(s): Child Pornography Offences