Sentencing for convictions for possession of child pornography, five counts of making child pornography available through a peer-to-peer file-sharing network, and making child pornography through preserved online chat transcripts.
The court held that denunciation and general deterrence are the primary sentencing principles for child pornography offences, emphasizing the role of internet-based sharing in perpetuating abuse, expanding offender communities, and causing permanent harm to victims.
The court treated the offender's lack of record, career damage, lengthy delay short of a Charter breach, and likely deportation as mitigating factors, but found the breadth of sharing activity, repeated conduct, curation of the collection, and the presence of highly depraved material to be significant aggravating features.
A global sentence of three years' imprisonment was imposed, with ancillary DNA, lifetime SOIRA, section 161, and forfeiture orders.
