Gordon Cudmore

The offender, a teacher, was found guilty of sexual exploitation of a student.

At sentencing, the offender brought a Charter challenge arguing that the mandatory minimum sentence of one year under s. 153 of the Criminal Code constituted cruel and unusual punishment under s. 12.

The court dismissed the constitutional challenge, finding the mandatory minimum was not grossly disproportionate given the breach of trust, grooming, and post-offence conduct.

The offender was sentenced to 18 months in jail followed by 12 months of probation, along with ancillary orders.

The accused was charged with possession and making available child pornography after police found illicit images on his computer, which was running the LimeWire peer-to-peer file sharing program.

The accused pled guilty to possession but contested the making available charges, arguing he lacked the requisite mens rea.

The court found that the accused had limited technical knowledge, did not know deleted images were saved, and took active steps to prevent file sharing once he learned of the risk.

The court rejected the Crown's argument of wilful blindness and acquitted the accused of making available child pornography.