SELECTED CASE LAW
BRITISH COLUMBIA:
In 2018 BCCA 409, Mr. W was convicted of possessing, accessing and making child pornography available to others.
The police were investigating IP addresses that had accessed child pornography on a file sharing program and found an IP address located in British Columbia. The police looked at the files this user was sharing on the program and found child pornography images in their shared fold-er. The IP address was associated with Mr. W’s girlfriend’s home, who he lived with.
When police obtained a warrant and seized and searched Mr. W’s computer, they found a large collection of child pornography photos and videos. Many of the files were given names that suggested they were of child pornography, including sexual images involving animals. The file sharing program was also found on this computer, along with information that linked it to the folder the police had viewed the images on online.
Mr. W shared his home with his girlfriend and her daughter. There was evidence that images had been repeatedly accessed, downloaded and shared, and one of the folders contained a file of a void cheque with Mr. W’s name on it, along with the images. The trial judge found that there was no evidence to show that another person had used the computer to repeatedly download child pornography.
Mr. W was convicted.
He appealed the conviction, arguing that the judge had made a mistake when assessing the evidence and did not give adequate reasons in the decision. However, the appeal judge disagreed and dismissed the case.
Also see: 2016 BCSC 2607 (Trial), 2017 BCSC 2692 (Sentence).
Criminal Offence(s): Child Pornography Offences