Table 7
Decision and sentencing outcomes in completed court cases linked to police-reported incidents of online child sexual exploitation and physical assault, by level of court, Canada, 2014 to 2021

Table 7
Decision and sentencing outcomes in completed court cases linked to police-reported incidents of online child sexual exploitation and physical assault, by level of court, Canada, 2014 to 2021
Table summary
This table displays the results of Decision and sentencing outcomes in completed court cases linked to police-reported incidents of online child sexual exploitation and physical assault, by level of court, Canada, 2014 to 2021. The information is grouped by Level of court, final decision, and most serious sentence (appearing as row headers), Cases with at least one police-reported online child sexual exploitation charge retained1 and Cases with at least one physical assault charge retained2, calculated using percent and number units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Level of court, final decision, and most serious sentence Table 7 Note 3 Cases with at least one police-reported online child sexual exploitation charge retained Table 7 Note 1 Cases with at least one physical assault charge retained Table 7 Note 2
number percent number percent
Note 0

true zero or a value rounded to zero

Note ...

not applicable

Note 1

Includes cases where at least one online child sexual exploitation (online sexual offences against children or online child pornography) charge was retained in court. The retained online child sexual exploitation charge was not necessarily the most serious offence in the case.

Return to note 1 referrer

Note 2

Physical assault includes assault (levels 1, 2, 3), unlawfully causing bodily harm, and other assaults where a victim was identified as being 17 years of age or younger at the start of the incident and where physical assault was the most serious violation in the incident. Includes cases where at least one physical assault charge was retained in court. The retained physical assault charge was not necessarily the most serious offence in the case.

Return to note 2 referrer

Note 3

Information on sentencing reflects the most serious sentence handed down by the courts for the most serious offence in the case which resulted in a guilty decision. There can be multiple sentences related to the same case (e.g., a sentence of custody followed by a period of probation). While this does not impact information on sentences of custody, which are always the most serious sentence according to the Integrated Criminal Court Survey, it means that percentages for other types of sentences which are considered to be less serious may be underestimated.

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Note 4

Includes intensive rehabilitative custody and supervision.

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Note 5

Includes conditional sentence, intensive support and supervision, order to attend a non-residential program, fine, community service, reprimand, and other types of sentences.

Return to note 5 referrer

Note: Counts represent the number of cases where there was at least one Criminal Code online child sexual exploitation or physical assault charge in the case. The type of decision for these counts represents that for the most serious offence within the case. The decision is determined at the accused level, refers to the most serious decision in the case, and, in instances where there were multiple victims, is applied to all victims in the case and not necessarily one specific charge or victim. Incidents may not have linked to courts data for multiple reasons, including survey coverage and time required to complete a case. Court cases may not have proceeded with the same charges initially laid or recommended by police. The data file used for analysis includes all completed court cases between 2013/2014 and 2022/2023 for incidents reported by police between 2014 and 2021.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics, Uniform Crime Reporting Survey and Integrated Criminal Courts Survey (linked file).
Adult criminal courts  
Guilty 1,937 72 14,674 52
Custody 1,555 88 3,319 24
Conditional sentence 92 5 1,077 8
Probation 101 6 8,230 59
Fine 6 0 427 3
Other 15 1 924 7
Not available (guilty but no sentencing detail) 168 ... not applicable 697 ... not applicable
Acquitted 56 2 1,461 5
Stayed, withdrawn, dismissed, or discharged 669 25 11,991 42
Other 35 1 271 1
Total, adult criminal courts 2,697 100 28,397 100
Youth courts  
Guilty 281 70 8,520 49
Custody and supervision (including conditional supervision) Table 7 Note 4 10 4 638 8
Deferred custody and supervision 16 6 273 3
Probation 172 66 4,784 59
Other Table 7 Note 5 61 24 2,404 30
Not available (guilty but no sentencing detail) 22 ... not applicable 421 ... not applicable
Acquitted 2 0 254 1
Stayed, withdrawn, dismissed, or discharged 120 30 8,588 49
Other 0 0 92 1
Total, youth courts 403 100 17,454 100
Total, adult and youth  
Guilty 2,218 72 23,194 51
Acquitted 58 2 1,715 4
Stayed, withdrawn, dismissed, or discharged 789 25 20,579 45
Other 35 1 363 1
Total, adult and youth 3,100 100 45,851 100
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