The Crown appealed a sentence imposed following guilty pleas to incest, sexual assault, sexual interference, making and possessing child pornography, and a firearms storage offence arising from prolonged sexual abuse of the offender's child.
The main issue was whether the sentencing judge erred by refusing to view a disc containing child pornography and recordings of the abuse, and whether the resulting six-year global sentence was unfit.
The majority held that a sentencing judge may exclude otherwise relevant evidence where its prejudicial effect outweighs its probative value and found no reversible error in the refusal to view the disc in the unusual circumstances.
The majority further held that, although lenient, the six-year global sentence was not clearly inadequate and dismissed the Crown appeal; a dissenting judge would have increased the sentence to nine years.
