How to Win Against Child Pornography Charges

R v. N (2020, OCJ Brampton)

Client was charged with possession, accessing and making available child pornography. The Crown Attorney’s initial position was 3 years in a federal penitentiary. Despite repeated requests for disclosure from the Crown Attorney, detailed disclosure was not made available for an extended period of time.

In the meantime, I arranged for a forensic risk assessment to be completed on the client by a forensic psychiatrist. That report was extremely positive. At the judicial pre-trial it became clear that the Crown could only prove that the client was in possession of a very limited number of images meeting the definition of child pornography. Disclosure indicated that there were searches done by the client that were suggestive of more child pornography but that could not be proven.

Ultimately the client plead guilty to one count of possession of child pornography and received a 90 day house arrest sentence.

R v. S (2020, OCJ Hamilton)

Client was charged with possession and distribution of child pornography as well as voyeurism for making a secret recording of him and his girlfriend having sex. The crown’s initial position was 2 years in jail.

A forensic psychiatrist that I retained provided a report to the court that outlined the issues my client was dealing with and the counselling that he would need on an ongoing basis. I provided the court with some case law and ultimately after a guilty plea he received a sentence of 10 months. I then appeared at his parole hearing on his behalf and he received early parole and was released after serving just over 3 months.

R. v. G. (2015 Brampton) - Possession, Accessing, and Distribution of Child Pornography

My client was charged with a series of child pornographic offences as a result of accessing certain websites and exchanging information with other people on his computer network.

My client was a paraplegic who is confined to a wheelchair, and has limited use of his hands and I was able to obtain a report from a well known and respected forensic psychiatrist. The report indicated that given all his physical and mental difficulties, there was virtually no risk of re-offending and certainly no risk of anything more serious happening because he cannot leave his apartment without the assistance of his parents. There was some argument that most of these incidents if not all may in fact have happened before the client turned eighteen.

In light of all of these circumstances, the Crown elected to stay the proceedings against my client.

R. v. O.G. (Brampton 2007)

I have included this case separately because the facts are somewhat unique and they emphasize the importance in retaining counsel as soon as possible. Mr. O.G. took his laptop in for service and the technician found child porn on it and called the police. Mr. O.G. was 70 years old at the time and was married with children and grandchildren of his own. He was convinced that a charge of this nature would mean that he would never see his grandchildren again.

Find a way to convince the police not to charge Mr. O.G. even though it was clearly his laptop and it had been his surfing that resulted in the possession of child pornography.

Relying upon the good relationship I maintain with the police, I was able to provide them with medical information and assurances regarding the client’s future conduct that resulted in them agreeing to formally caution the client but not charge him. The family never knew and he has an on-going loving relationship with his children and grandchildren.

This case was unique but it demonstrates the importance of getting experienced counsel involved in the process as soon as possible. If you are facing any such situation, call me right away.

R. v. RO. (Brampton 2002); R. v. WO. (Brampton 2005);
R. v. J. (Halton 2006); R. v. S. (Brampton 2007).

I have grouped all of these cases together because although there are slight differences here and there, the pattern is generally the same. My clients find themselves surfing the net for porn but there is so much of it that the mind goes numb to a lot of it after a while and something new is required to get the juices flowing. The searches then become wider and more questionable and before they know it, they are regularly viewing child pornography. And now they are in a very dark psychological place that they do not know how to escape from. They know it is wrong and none of them actually want to be there but their compulsion holds them there – they hate themselves and they have no hope that it is going to get any better. But it does get better and ironically it is the arrest and charge that provides that opportunity.

My first step is to enroll the clients in counseling with a psychotherapist. Regardless of what may happen with the case, they need to get their head into a better place and they have to figure out what got them there so that they can avoid going back. For most of my clients their whole life depends on a successful turn-around: their job, their friends, their family, their marriage, etc.

In addition to the counseling, I have them assessed by a professional so that the therapist has every possible piece of relevant information available so that he or she can do the best job possible. The client needs to get better. This is the golden opportunity to leave the dark place they found themselves in and it is my job to make sure they have all the support necessary to make that happen.

All of the clients I have represented have successfully turned their lives around. Those who were married kept their marriage together and those that were single have since gotten married or settled into long-term stable relationships. Only one of my clients ended up with an actual jail sentence and that was because he had not only possessed child pornography but he had distributed it. Even with Mr. S. however, I was able to convince the Crown Attorney to proceed by Summary Conviction rather than by Indictment so that the client did not have to face a minimum 1 year in jail – he received a sentence of 7 months instead.