Table 4
Characteristics of child pornography cases, pre- and post-2012 mandatory minimum penalty (MMP) legislation

Table 4
Characteristics of child pornography cases, pre- and post-2012 mandatory minimum penalty (MMP) legislation
Table summary
This table displays the results of Characteristics of child pornography cases. The information is grouped by Characteristics of completed court cases (appearing as row headers), Making or distributing child pornography, Possessing or accessing child pornography, Pre-2012 and Post-2012, calculated using number and percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Characteristics of completed court cases Making or distributing child pornographyTable 4 Note 1 Possessing or accessing child pornographyTable 4 Note 2
Pre-2012Table 4 Note 3 Post-2012Table 4 Note 4 Pre-2012Table 4 Note 3 Post-2012Table 4 Note 4
number percent number percent number percent number percent
Number of charges per case
Total summary cases 26 100 39 100 103 100 147 100
Single charge 0 0 3 8 21 20 42 29
Multiple charges 26 100 36 92 82 80 105 71
Total indictable cases 73 100 64 100 140 100 141 100
Single charge 4 5 3 5 29 21 22 16
Multiple charges 69 95 61 95 111 79 119 84
Number of appearances in case
Total summary cases 26 100 39 100 103 100 147 100
1 or 2 appearances 4 15 3 8 7 7 6 4
3 to 5 appearances 2 8 6 15 17 17 24 16
6 to 10 appearances 7 27 12 31 38 37 50 34
Over 10 appearances 13 50 18 46 41 40 67 46
Total indictable cases 73 100 64 100 140 100 141 100
1 or 2 appearances 2 3 2 3 5 4 3 2
3 to 5 appearances 9 12 3 5 17 12 19 13
6 to 10 appearances 13 18 17 27 37 26 33 23
Over 10 appearances 49 67 42 66 81 58 86 61
Case lengthTable 4 Note 5
Total summary cases 26 100 39 100 103 100 147 100
1 day 0 0 1 3 3 3 1 1
2 days to less than 2 months 3 12 6 15 14 14 16 11
2 to less than 4 months 3 12 3 8 12 12 19 13
4 to less than 8 months 11 42 14 36 29 28 40 27
8 to less than 12 months 5 19 9 23 27 26 39 27
1 year or longer 4 15 6 15 18 17 32 22
Total indictable cases 73 100 64 100 140 100 141 100
1 day 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0
2 days to less than 2 months 7 10 4 6 12 9 10 7
2 to less than 4 months 5 7 2 3 14 10 16 11
4 to less than 8 months 19 26 14 22 41 29 36 26
8 to less than 12 months 22 30 19 30 36 26 37 26
1 year or longer 19 26 25 39 36 26 42 30
Note 1

Includes child pornography offences of making (s. 163.1 (2)) and of distributing (s. 163.1 (3)) child pornography. MMPs were amended in 2012 from 90 days to 6 months for summary offences. There was no change to the 1 year minimum for indictable offences.

Return to note 1 referrer

Note 2

Includes child pornography offences of possession (s. 163.1 (4)) and accessing (s. 163.1 (4.1)) child pornography. MMPs were amended in 2012 from 14 to 90 days for summary and 45 days to 6 months for indictable offences.

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Note 3

Pre-2012 selected cases: Date of offence and case completed between December 19, 2009 and August 9, 2012.

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Note 4

Post-2012 selected cases: Date of offence and case completed between August 9, 2012 (enactment of amended MMPS) and March 31, 2015 (latest case end for court data).

Return to note 4 referrer

Note 5

Case length is elapsed time between the first court appearance to the date of decision.

Return to note 5 referrer

Note: A case is one or more charges against an accused person or company that were processed by the courts at the same time and received a final decision. Cases that involve more than one charge are represented by the most serious offence. See "Methodology and data quality" for a description of case selection for the definition of time periods pre- and post- 2012 legislation. Excludes 24% of selected cases where type of proceeding (summary or indictable, all offences) was not reported. Cases selected from adult criminal courts cases where case completion is between April 1, 2000 and March 31, 2015 for ten jurisdictions (excluding Manitoba, Northwest Territories and Nunavut) based on survey coverage. Data exclude information from superior courts in Prince Edward Island, Ontario, and Saskatchewan as well as municipal courts in Quebec due to the unavailability of data.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Integrated Criminal Court Survey.
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