Lerren Lois Ella Ducharme

The court sentenced Michael Allan McIndoo for multiple offences including child luring, making and possessing child pornography, extortion, and breaches of a prohibition order.

The decision reviews the facts, aggravating and mitigating factors, the applicable legal principles, and comparable case law.

The court imposed a global sentence of 9.25 years, emphasizing denunciation, deterrence, and child protection, and made several ancillary orders including SOIRA, DNA, forfeiture, and non-communication orders.

After a five-day judge-alone trial, James Nathan McLarnon was found guilty of sexual assault, multiple counts of assault with a weapon, assault with choking, assault, uttering threats to cause death, and unlawful confinement, all arising from intimate partner violence against the same complainant, M.C., between 2020 and 2021.

The Crown sought a seven-year global sentence; the defence proposed three years.

The court imposed a global sentence of five and a half years, reduced by pre-sentence custody and a modest "Duncan" credit for harsh pre-trial conditions, resulting in a final sentence of two years and 234 days.

The decision details the aggravating and mitigating factors, the application of the totality principle, and the ancillary orders imposed.

This sentencing decision addresses the offence of voyeurism committed by Abinash Samal, who used a disguised spy camera in an Airbnb rental bedroom to secretly record renters engaged in explicit sexual activity.

The Court considered the aggravating factors including the breach of trust, the serious violation of privacy and sexual autonomy, and the retention of videos for prurient use.

The accused pleaded guilty and had no prior record but showed little insight into his offending.

The Court imposed a six-month jail sentence followed by two years probation, rejecting a conditional sentence due to concerns about public safety, the accused’s lack of honesty, and the need for denunciation and deterrence.

The decision also discusses relevant risk assessments and compares similar cases, emphasizing the seriousness of voyeurism in private rental settings.

The offender, Ashlyn Chrisjohn, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death and failing to stop after an accident causing death.

The court considered the gravity of the offences, the offender's significant responsibility, and mitigating factors including a Gladue report detailing her personal circumstances and efforts towards rehabilitation.

The Crown sought concurrent five-year terms, while the defence sought time served or a conditional sentence.

The court emphasized denunciation and general deterrence as primary sentencing goals, finding that a sentence of time served or a conditional sentence would be inappropriate given the egregious nature of the offences and the high blameworthiness.

A four-year custodial sentence was imposed for dangerous driving causing death, with a concurrent three-year sentence for failing to stop, along with a driving prohibition and DNA order.

The defendant, Patrick Morgan, was found guilty of sexual assault involving unprotected intercourse with a profoundly intoxicated victim (K.L.) whom he had initially tried to help.

The court considered the seriousness of the offence, the breach of trust, the mens rea of recklessness, and significant mitigating factors including the defendant's youth, lack of criminal record, remorse, and personal hardships.

The Crown sought 12-18 months institutional incarceration, while the defence argued for a conditional discharge.

The court found that a conditional discharge was contrary to public interest due to the need for denunciation and general deterrence, but also that traditional incarceration was not fully appropriate given the unique circumstances and the defendant's strong rehabilitative prospects.

A conditional sentence of 16 months was imposed, to be served in the community with electronic monitoring, followed by 18 months probation.

The accused was charged with multiple offences under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) for possession of various drugs for the purpose of trafficking, and under the Criminal Code for impaired driving by drug and several firearm-related offences.

A voir dire was conducted to address Charter breaches (s. 8, 9, 10(b)) concerning the Standardized Field Sobriety Test (SFST) demand, arrest, drug evaluation, and vehicle inventory search.

The court found no Charter breaches, ruling the evidence admissible.

Subsequently, the accused was convicted on all CDSA counts and most Criminal Code counts, including impaired driving, possession of a restricted firearm, and various careless transportation and prohibited device charges.

Acquittals were entered for two ammunition-related counts due to the ammunition being non-functional.

The accused was charged with operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol concentration in excess of the allowable limit.

The accused challenged the admissibility of breath readings on the basis that the arresting officer violated his Charter rights under section 8 by making an Approved Screen Device (ASD) demand without proper consideration of residual mouth-alcohol.

The officer had incorrectly believed a 10-minute wait was required rather than 15 minutes.

The court found the officer's reliance on the ASD fail result was objectively reasonable given the officer had no actual evidence of when the accused last consumed alcohol, and the mere possibility of recent consumption did not render the demand unreasonable.

The court convicted the accused.