Backgrounder: Protecting Children From Sexual Predators

Recognizing that children are particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation, the Government committed, in its March 2010 Speech from the Throne, to better protecting children by increasing the penalties for sexual offences against children. The proposed Protecting Children from Sexual Predators Act supports this commitment in two ways: by ensuring that the penalties imposed for sexual offences against children better reflect the extremely serious nature of these acts and are consistent with each other; and by seeking to prevent child sex offenders from engaging in conduct that could facilitate their sexual offending or re-offending. This legislation would amend the Criminal Code to:

1) ESTABLISH NEW MANDATORY PENALTIES (see TABLE A)

New mandatory prison sentences would be provided for seven existing offences related to child sexual exploitation, including:

• sexual assault where the victim is under 16 years of age (section 271);
• aggravated sexual assault where the victim is under 16 years of age (section 273);
• incest where the victim is under 16 years of age (section 155);
• luring a child through the use of a computer (section 172.1); and
• exposure (subsection 173(2)).

The addition of mandatory prison sentences to these offences would also have the effect of eliminating the use of conditional sentences or house arrest for any of these cases.

2) CREATE TWO NEW OFFENCES (see TABLE A)

These new offences would be aimed at certain conduct that could facilitate or enable the commission of a sexual offence against a child. These offences would:

• prohibit anyone from providing sexually explicit material to a child for the purpose of facilitating the commission of a sexual offence against that child. This hybrid offence would carry a mandatory prison sentence of 30 days imprisonment and a maximum penalty of 6 months when proceeded on summary conviction, and a mandatory prison sentence of 90 days imprisonment and a maximum penalty of 2 years when proceeded on indictment; and
• prohibit anyone from using any means of telecommunications, including a computer system, to agree or make arrangements with another person for the purpose of committing a sexual offence against a child. This proposed offence was previously proposed as part of former Bill C-46, the Investigative Powers for the 21^st Century Act, in the previous session of Parliament. This proposed hybrid offence would now carry a mandatory prison sentence of 90 days and be punishable by a maximum of 18 months on summary conviction, and a mandatory prison sentence of 1 year and be punishable by a maximum of 10 years when proceeded on indictment.

3) INCREASE EXISTING MANDATORY PRISON SENTENCES (see TABLE B)

The mandatory prison sentences for seven existing offences would be increased to better reflect the serious nature of these offences, as well as to bring greater consistency in sentencing in these cases. For example:

• the existing mandatory prison sentences for three child-specific offences, which carry a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment when proceeded on indictment, would be raised from 45 days to one year;
• the existing mandatory prison sentences for possessing and accessing child pornography (subsections 163.1(4) and (4.1), which carry a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment when proceeded on indictment, would be raised from 45 days to six months; and
• the existing mandatory prison sentences for the indictable offence of a parent or guardian procuring their 16- or 17-year-old child for illegal sexual activity (section 170) and for a householder permitting illegal sexual activity with a 16- or 17-year-old (section 171), both of which carry a maximum penalty of 2 years imprisonment, would be doubled from to 45 to 90 days.

4) CREATE NEW RESTRICTIONS FOR OFFENDERS

These reforms would also require judges to consider prohibiting suspected or convicted child sex offenders from having any unsupervised contact with a young person under the age of 16 years or from having any unsupervised use of the Internet.

This bill also proposes coordinating amendments for other bills currently before Parliament and which include reforms to better protect children against sexual predators, namely Bill S-2 (the Protecting Victims From Sex Offenders Act) and Bill C-16 (the Ending House Arrest for Property and Other Serious Crimes by Serious and Violent Offenders Act).

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Department of Justice Canada
November 2010

¹ There is a mandatory prison sentence for this offence if a restricted or prohibited firearm is used in connection with organized crime (5 years for first offence; 7 years for second or subsequent offence).

² There is a mandatory prison sentence for this offence if a firearm is used (4 years).

Nota: On this chart, all maximum penalties remain the same.

* when victim is 16 years or older, but under 18.