Mandatory minimum for child sex abuse material is unconstitutional, says Quebec court

Quebec’s highest court has concluded that the minimum one-year sentence for distribution of child sexual abuse material is unconstitutional.

In a decision Monday, a Court of Appeal panel ruled on the case of a man who pleaded guilty in 2018 to one count each of possessing, accessing and distributing the material.

The panel found that the original sentence of 12 months imprisonment would constitute cruel and unusual punishment given the defendant’s intellectual disability and mental health conditions.

It reduced the defendant’s sentence to six months served in the community, as well as probation and a long list of conditions, in addition to the time already served in detention.

The panel noted that the Supreme Court of Canada already struck down mandatory one-year minimum jail sentences for accessing or possessing child sexual abuse material last year.

That court concluded that mandatory minimum sentences can be constitutionally vulnerable because they leave a court no choice but to impose a grossly disproportionate sentence on certain offenders.

By Morgan Lowrie