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Toronto Child Pornography Lawyer

Toronto Child Pornography Lawyer

Our focus is defending child pornography charges prosecuted under the Criminal Code of Canada, including:
  1. Possession of Child Pornography (s. 163.1(4))
  2. Accessing Child Pornography (s. 163.1(4.1))
  3. Distribution, or making available, Child Pornography (s. 163.1(3))
  4. Making Child Pornography (s. 163.1(2))

We represent clients charged with child porn offences throughout the Greater Toronto Area and advise criminal defence lawyers across Canada regarding sophisticated technological and constitutional defence case strategies that can raise reasonable doubt and achieve acquittals/withdrawn charges.

Consequences and Punishments of a Child Pornography Conviction

  • Jail: You will likely be sentenced to jail or prison for at least six months or more (six months in jail is now a mandatory minimum).

  • Sex offender registration: You will be required to register as a sex offender both provincially and federally for at least 10 years.

  • DNA submission: You will have to submit your DNA to be stored in a government database comprised of high risk offenders and accessible to law enforcement in Canada and the United States.

  • Immigration, PR, citizenship problems: If you are not a Canadian citizen, a child porn conviction would likely render you deportable from Canada upon the conclusion of your jail term. This means your work permit or permanent resident status would be cancelled and you would be sent back to your country of origin.

  • Conditions upon release from prison: The court may impose conditions such as restrictions and prohibitions involving the use of computers, cell phones, or other electronic devices. You may also be banned from attending pools, parks, playgrounds, and other places where children congregate, or generally from communicating with or being in a close physical proximity to children. These conditions can be imposed for the rest of your life under Section 161 of the Criminal Code.

  • Media Coverage: Your name will likely be reported in the media as being charged with child pornography offences.

  • Travel restrictions: You will likely be denied travel entry into the U.S., UK, and other countries that Canada shares police information with.

  • Employment problems: Child pornography offences will show up on all criminal records and police background checks for the purposes of employment, vulenteering, etc. for life (both regular checks and vulnerable sector checks).
Child porn is such a serious offence in Canada that upon conviction the accused individual often ends up losing virtually everything: their family, friends, career, freedom, travel abilities, and future employability.

Not only are convicted offenders guaranteed to go to jail, the embarrassment and public shaming is greater with child pornography offences than nearly any other type of criminal charge. Offenders are labelled by society as child sex predators for life.

For those who are not Canadian citizens, a conviction normally means their immigration status is revoked and they face deportation upon release from prison.

Who gets charged with child pornography?

Those charged with child pornography offences often don't fit the expected profile of a sex offender. Many are educated, hard working individuals with careers and families. When the police knock on their door with a search warrant, in an instant, everything changes. They find themselves handcuffed, taken to jail and usually released on very restrictive bail conditions.

Most of these accused are first time offenders who have never directly sexually assaulted a child. Some are factually innocent and were completely unaware their computer or internet connection was being used to access illegal porn. Others get caught up in child porn investigations for images and videos they believed to be perfectly legal. When these people are charged, they often are shocked to learn what they accessed is classified by the police as meeting the legal definition of "child pornography" (note: just because the police believe it is child porn does not mean the images could support a conviction at trial).

No matter what your circumstances are, or how innocent or guilty you believe yourself to be, we can still help you.

How we can help those charged avoid a life ruining conviction

Child pornograpy charges are often highly defensible. We guarantee all of our clients access to the most sophisticated technological and constitutional defence strategies being successfully used in courtrooms throughout North America today.

Remember: Just because child pornography is found on a computer/disk/external hard drive, or an internet IP address timestamped to your ISP account is said to have accessed the material, does not mean you will be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

Typical defences include:
  • Constitutional Applications: We mount continuous, exhaustive legal challenges to possible Charter breaches involving technicalities such as the right to counsel, trial delays, challenging the grounds relied upon by the justice who issued the search warrant, consent to search and seizure, undue influence, and more.

  • Technological: Using expert witnesses that raise doubt as to whether the accused intended to access or possess child porn. This includes presenting evidence related to computer networking, operating systems, malicious third party applications, and sophisticated alternative plausible explanations that can be proven in court (or used to raise reasonable doubt).

  • Identity: Maybe a third party had (or could have had) access to the computer, internet connection, or other allegedly infringing material. Arguments such as those relating to continuity of use and shared access (knowingly or unknowingly) are often successful in court if presented properly.

  • Definition: The images or videos themselves may not meet the legal definition of child porn as set out in the Criminal Code and further defined by the Supreme Court of Canada. Not all child nudity meets the legal definition of "child pornography". Moreover, sometimes the models in the allegedly illegal pictures/videos are not underage. A successful defence may require proving, or raising a reasonable doubt in court, that the models are in fact at least 18 through expert witness testimony or actual verification of their identity. Moreover, even if they were underage, we may be able to prove that you had reasonable grounds to believe they were at least 18 years old.

  • Malicious Third Party Meddling: Depending on your life situation and social relationships, we may be able to show that you reasonably could have been set up by a third party. Many times, a motivated third party will intentionally fabricate or set up the accused to be charged for financial reasons, to gain an advantage in a divorce/custody/access family law case, out of revenge/jealousy, or other business, legal, or personal reasons.

We will do everything possible to get your child pornography charges dropped or win an acquittal at trial

Our #1 priority is protecting the accomplishments, freedoms, and futures of our clients. We will use all plausible defence strategies to:

  1. If possible, have the charges dropped or withdrawn. Sometimes we can convince the Crown Attorney that there is no reasonable prospect of conviction, or that it is inappropriate to proceed with the prosecution. As a result, the charges are dropped prior to the trial date (or on the day of trial), or;

  2. Have you acquitted using specific constitutional Charter applications or by establishing reasonable doubt to the court.
Just because the police find child porn in their search doesn’t mean you knowingly possessed it or accessed it.

Remaining silent with the police is absolutely critical

For police investigating child porn allegations, they have two very specific initial objectives:
  1. Seize computers, hard drives, disks, phones, flash drives, sd cards and other possible evidence of possession or access (including non electronic handwritten notepads and other documents possibly containing password information), and;

  2. Secure a statement from the accused that damages his case, such as:

    1. That he knowingly downloaded the images or videos
    2. That he used the material for a sexual purpose
    3. That he owns and has control over the computer
    4. That nobody else has access to the computer
    5. That he believed or was aware that the subjects could be under 18
    6. That he entered his credit card number, paypal, or used another payment mechanism to purchase underage porn
    7. That he used TOR, a VPN, or someone else's wifi in an attempt to disguise his identity online
    8. Information regarding passwords to uncrackable files using encryption technology like AES, Twofish, and Serpent through widely available programs like TrueCrypt, VeraCrypt, WinRAR and through built in OS encyption via Apple or Microsoft BitLocker.
Exercising your right to remain silent can help your case tremendously. The police don't know who downloaded or stored the porn, they don't know who is using your internet connection, they probably can't crack your encrypted password, and they don't know how old the models are in the allegedly illegal pictures or videos. For these reasons, they will attempt to extract an incriminating statement from you as soon as possible (often at your house).

I made the mistake of talking to the police. Now what?

Even if you are tricked into making an incriminating statement, full confession, or simply provided information, there are often ways to correct this mistake. Your statements or confession may have been improperly coerced or be far less incriminating than you believe. Often the statements can also be deemed inadmissible if properly challenged through specific applications. Canadian courts will often go to great lengths to ensure your Charter rights against self incrimination and unreasonable search and seizure are protected.

Don't assume that just because to admitted something or to the police, or because you consented to a search, that your case is hopeless. Many child porn cases are won in because of improper warrants and illegal Charter violations leading to evidence and confessions being thrown out (disregarded or excluded) by the courts under section 24 of the Charter.


Call us today for a free case review

You need lawyers who understand technology and have experience defending child pornography related charges. Child porn sentences (including for all guilty pleas) result in mandatory lengthy jail terms, sex offender registrations, and other employment, travel, and immigration related consequences that can ruin your life.

Winning acquittals and withdrawn charges often requires more than traditional defence methods. It may be possible to avoid a conviction by raising doubt in your case using highly sophisticated technological and constitutional defence strategies.


    call us: 647-228-5969

    contact@torontochildpornlawyer.ca


  call us: 647-228-5969

  contact@torontochildpornlawyer.ca

Your case will be defended by a fully licensed Practicing Lawyer of the Law Society of Ontario. For more information about our lawyer, click here.

We provide our clients with:
  • 2024 constitutional and technological child porn defences successfully used throughout Canada and the U.S.
  • Flat fee pricing
  • U.S. travel advice and information
  • Help with related immigration issues
  • Employment background check advice/services
  • Fingerprints and records destruction services
  • Lawyer/client privilege
  • Experienced, focused counsel


* Please note:

If you are not a paying client, we cannot answer questions and provide assistance with US travel, immigration, employment background checks, and avoiding a criminal record. This includes those who have already retained other counsel and those whose cases have already been completed.

We only can take calls/emails relating to Ontario, Canada area cases. Please see our FAQ for a listing of the courthouses we service.

Are you a lawyer? If you are defending a child pornography related case and are looking for expert advice regarding possible defences, case strategies, and information release management call us at: 647-228-5969.

Please note: We do not accept legal aid certificate cases. All clients are handled on a private retainer only.


 

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  More Information:


  We provide:
  • 2024 constitutional and technological child porn defences successfully used throughout Canada and the U.S.
  • Flat fee pricing
  • U.S. travel advice and information
  • Help with related immigration issues
  • Employment background check advice/services
  • Fingerprints and records destruction services
  • Lawyer/client privilege
  • Experienced, focused counsel