SELECTED CASE LAW
ONTARIO:
In 2015 ONCJ 741, the accused, Mr. T, was charged with voyeurism, mischief, and criminal harassment after capturing images of a woman’s buttocks while she was wearing a bikini on a public beach. Mr. T took videos of many women, zooming his camera lens to a three to four-foot vantage point, and hiding the camera in a rolled-up beach towel. The complainant, Ms. S, reported that Mr. T had done the same thing twice a few years earlier in the same part of the beach. There was no evidence that he ever posted the videos online.
Mr. T was ultimately found guilty of mischief and sentenced to seven days in prison and two years’ probation. The voyeurism charge against Mr. T was dismissed because the Crown could not prove that the images were taken for a sexual purpose. The Court wrote that the photos could have been taken for an aesthetic purpose. The criminal harassment charge was also dis-missed because it was not clear that the victim feared for her safety. In assessing Ms. S’s fear, the Court referenced the audio recording of her 9-1-1 call to police and noted that “her voice does not sound panicked or distraught.”[1] The Court also did not find that Mr. T was “watching or besetting” Ms. S, and could not conclude that he knew, or was reckless to the fact that he was harassing women on the beach.[2]
Also see: 2015 ONCJ 449 (Trial).
[1] 2015 ONCJ 741 at para 39.
[2] 2015 ONCJ 449 at paras 41-42.
Criminal Offence(s): Criminal Harassment