Child Pornography Lawyer in Mississauga

Child pornography offences are extremely serious. A conviction for possession, accessing, distributing, or making child pornography can attract a significant jail sentence. In addition to a jail sentence, ancillary orders that accompany a child pornography conviction will require registration with the Federal and provincial sex offender registries. Moreover, upon conviction, the Court will order restrictions upon contact with individuals under the age of 16.

What is Child Pornography and What are the Different Child Pornography Offences?

Child Pornography is defined in Section 163.1 of the Criminal Code of Canada as follows:

Section 163.1 (1)

In this section, “child pornography” means:

(a) A photographic, film, video or other visual representation, whether or not it was made by electronic or mechanical means,

1. That shows a person who is or is depicted as being under the age of eighteen years and is engaged in or is depicted as engaged in explicit sexual activity, or
2. The dominant characteristic of which is the depiction, for a sexual purpose, of a sexual organ or the anal region of a person under the age of eighteen years.

(b) Any written material, visual representation or audio recording that advocates or counsels sexual activity with a person under the age of eighteen years that would be an offence under this Act.

(c) Any written material whose dominant characteristic is the description, for a sexual purpose, of sexual activity with a person under the age of eighteen years that would be an offence under this Act; or

(d) Any audio recording that has as its dominant characteristic the description, presentation or representation, for a sexual purpose, of sexual activity with a person under the age of eighteen years that would be an offence under this Act.

There are four general categories of child pornography offences. These are:

1. Possession of child pornography
2. Accessing Child pornography
3. Distribution of Child pornography and
4. Making Child pornography

Possession of child pornography – Possession of child pornography means that the accused is alleged to have both knowledge and control over the pornographic material. This is probably the most common allegation with respect to child pornography in Mississauga and the surrounding areas.

Every person who possesses any child pornography is guilty of an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 10 years and to a minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of one year.

Accessing Child pornography- The internet consists of content which is not labeled or mislabeled too, and there will be people with malicious intent who purposely try to misname files and share them in order to incriminate the users.

Every person who accesses any child pornography is guilty of an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 10 years and to a minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of one year.

Distribution of Child pornography – Internet child pornography is unlike most crimes local police departments handle. Local citizens may access child pornography images that were produced and/or stored in another city or on another continent. Alternatively, they may produce or distribute images that are downloaded by people thousands of miles away. An investigation that begins in one police district will almost certainly cross jurisdictional boundaries.

Every person who Distribute any child pornography is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 14 years and to a minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of one year.

Making Child pornography – The making refers to a person that makes, prints, publishes, or possesses child pornography for the purpose of publication. This offence is more serious than the offences of accessing and possession of pornographic material involving a minor. These allegations are serious, and an experienced child pornography lawyer should be hired to defend against such charges.

Making Child pornography is obviously a serious criminal offence that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of one year. A conditional sentence (otherwise known as house arrest) is not available whenever the Criminal Code imposes a  minimum sentence and is therefore not an available option in these cases.

Legal Defenses for Child Pornography Charges

The following are some of the most common legal defenses against child pornography charges that your attorney may choose to use, depending on the details of your case:

• Innocence: Did inappropriate spam or pop-ups get you in trouble? Did you type in the wrong web address accidentally? With the prevalence of viruses and other unwanted attachments to legal online material, becoming an unknowing or unwilling participant in illegal online activity is a real possibility.

• Age: Common defence to a child pornography charge is to argue that you did not know that the person depicted was under the age of 18 years. However, this is not always an easy defence to raise. In accordance with section 163.1(5) of the Criminal Code, you can only use this defence if you can demonstrate that you took all reasonable steps in the circumstances to ensure that the person was at least 18 years of age. A failure to do so can ultimately result in your conviction for this offence.

• False Accusation: Were you framed? Does somebody have something against you and that is why he / she is leveling these charges at you?

• Psychological addiction: Claiming a psychological addiction to child porn isn’t a winning defense, but it is a possible means to minimize your sentence if you are convicted. In some cases a sentence can involve a treatment program rather than imprisonment for persons suffering from a child porn addiction.

• Illegal search: In some cases, the defendant may be able to raise a defense not based on his or her actual innocence but based on procedural errors that were made in the process in violation of his or her constitutional rights. For example, the defendant may be able to successfully argue that the incriminating evidence was illegally seized by police.

Get a Legal Help

If you are facing allegations of indecent act or charges of child pornography in Mississauga, our lawyers can provide you with the defence and information you need.