Canadian Criminal Law/Offences/Sexual Interference

Sexual Interference
s. 151 of the Crim. Code
Election / Plea
Crown Election	Hybrid
Jurisdiction	Prov. Court SC Judge + PI (I) SC Jury + PI (I) (536(2))
Summary Dispositions
Avail. Disp.	Discharge (730) Suspended Sentence (731(1)(a)) Fine (734) Fine + Probation (731(1)(b)) Jail (718.3, 787) Jail + Probation (731(1)(b)) Jail + Fine (734) Conditional Sentence (742.1)
Minimum	90 days jail
Maximum	18 months jail or $5,000 fine
Indictable Dispositions
Avail. Disp.	Discharge (730) Suspended Sentence (731(1)(a)) Fine (734) Fine + Probation (731(1)(b)) Jail (718.3, 787) Jail + Probation (731(1)(b)) Jail + Fine (734) Conditional Sentence (742.1)
Minimum	1 year jail
Maximum	10 years jail
References
Offence Elements Sentence Principles Sentence Digests
Comments
DNA primary designated offence SOIRA designated offence DO/LTO primary designated offence

Legislation

Sexual interference
151. Every person who, for a sexual purpose, touches, directly or indirectly, with a part of the body or with an object, any part of the body of a person under the age of 16 years

(a) is guilty of an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 10 years and to a minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of one year; or

(b) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and is liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 18 months and to a minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of 90 days.

R.S., 1985, c. C-46, s. 151; R.S., 1985, c. 19 (3rd Supp.), s. 1; 2005, c. 32, s. 3; 2008, c. 6, s. 54; 2012, c. 1, s. 11.

– CCC

Proof of Offence

The Crown should prove:

1. identity of accused
2. date and time of incident
3. jurisdiction (incl. region and province)
4. that victim was under the age of sixteen at the time of the events alleged
5. that the accused touched the victim,
6. that that touching was for a sexual purpose
7. the accused knew the victim was under 16 or the accused did not take reasonable steps to ascertain the age of the victim

Essential elements are in bold.

Interpretation

"[A]n accused who intends sexual interaction of any kind with a child and with that intent makes contact with the body of a child “touches” the child and is guilty of an offence. The section addresses not the instigator of the sexual conduct but rather the adult who for his or her own sexual purposes makes contact, whether as a primary actor or not, with the body of a child."

Defences

• Consent

Pre-Trial and Trial Motions

Witness motions

• Exclusion of public from court (486)
• Prohibition of self-represented accused from Cross-examining a witness under the age of 18 years (486.3)
• Sexual Offence Publication Ban (486.4)
• Publication Ban of in relation to victims, witnesses or justice system participants (486.5)
• Witness Screen (486.2)
• Testimony by Video (714.1)

History

On August 9, 2012, the section was amended to increase the penalties from 45 days for indictable and 14 days for summary to one year and 90 days respectively.