Sentencing following guilty pleas to one count of child luring and two counts of possession of child pornography arising from online sexual communications with a 16-year-old complainant and the storage of child sexual abuse material involving multiple young persons.
The court emphasized denunciation and deterrence for sexual offences against children, relying on post-Friesen sentencing principles and the inherent harm identified in Sharpe.
It treated the offender's guilty plea, lack of record, difficult personal history, and four years on restrictive bail as mitigating factors, but found the quantity of images, the age disparity, the deception used online, and the exploitation of vulnerable minors to be significant aggravating factors.
A global sentence of four years' imprisonment was imposed, together with SOIRA registration, forfeiture, DNA, s. 161 prohibitions, and a no-contact order.
