Table 7
Cases completed in adult criminal and youth courts related to child sexual offences likely committed or facilitated online, by type of offence, case and accused characteristics, type of decision and most serious sentence, Canada, 2014/2015 to 2023/2024

Table 7 Cases completed in adult criminal and youth courts related to child sexual offences likely committed or facilitated online, by type of offence, case and accused characteristics, type of decision and most serious sentence, Canada, 2014/2015 to 2023/2024
Table summary
The information is grouped by Case characteristics and outcomes (appearing as row headers), Luring a child1 , Agreement or arrangement—sexual offence against a child1, Possessing or accessing child sexual abuse and exploitation material2, Making or distributing child sexual abuse and exploitation material2, Non-consensual distribution of intimate images3 and Total cases, calculated using number units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Case characteristics Luring a child Table 7 Note 1 Agreement or arrangement—sexual offence against a child Table 7 Note 1 Possessing or accessing child sexual abuse and exploitation material Table 7 Note 2 Making or distributing child sexual abuse and exploitation material Table 7 Note 2 Non-consensual distribution of intimate images Table 7 Note 3 Total cases
number
Note 0

true zero or a value rounded to zero

Note 1

An offence specific to child victims and defined in the Criminal Code by the use of telecommunications, and is therefore assumed to have occurred online.

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Note 2

An offence specific to child victims but not defined in the Criminal Code by the use of telecommunications, however, police data indicate are likely committed or facilitated online.

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Note 3

Non-consensual distribution of intimate images became an offence in 2015 under the Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act. This is an offence not specific to child victims only and is not defined in the Criminal Code by the use of telecommunication. However, police data indicate this offence most often involved youth, and a large proportion are likely committed or facilitated online.

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Note 4

Guilty findings include guilty of the charged offence, of an included offence, of an attempt of the charged offence, or of an attempt of an included offence. This category also includes guilty pleas, and cases where an absolute or conditional discharge has been imposed.

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Note 5

Acquitted means that the accused has been found not guilty of the charges presented before the court.

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Note 6

This category includes stays, withdrawals, dismissals and discharges at preliminary inquiry as well as court referrals to alternative or extrajudicial measures and restorative justice programs. These decisions all refer to the court stopping criminal proceedings against the accused.

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Note 7

Other decisions include final decisions of found not criminally responsible and waived out of province or territory. This category also includes any order where a guilty decision was not recorded, the court's acceptance of a special plea, cases which raise Charter arguments and cases where the accused was found unfit to stand trial.

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Note 8

Age is the age of the accused at the time of the offence. Excludes accused persons whose age was coded as unknown.

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Note 9

Includes both adult and youth accused. Data exclude cases where the gender of the accused was unknown or where the accused was a company. Information on the gender of the accused is not available from Manitoba. For Quebec, gender is determined on the basis of the accused's name, producing a relatively higher rate of unknown gender.

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Note 10

Information on sentencing reflects the most serious sentence handed down by the courts related to a guilty finding for a child sexual offence likely committed online. There can be multiple sentences related to the same charge or case (e.g., a sentence of custody followed by a period of probation). While this does not impact information on sentences of custody, which is always the most serious sentence, it means that percentages for other types of sentence may be underestimated.

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Note 11

Probation is mandatory in cases where the accused is given a conditional discharge or a suspended sentence.

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Note 12

The category ‘other sentences' includes, for example, absolute discharge, restitution, prohibition, seizure, forfeiture, compensation, pay purchaser and conditional discharge, as well as other court imposed conditions such as apologies and essays. Other sentences also includes deferred custody and supervision, intensive support and supervision, attendance at non-residential program and reprimand where sentencing data under the Youth Criminal Justice Act are not available. Figures for 'other sentences' as the most serious sentence are low since they are among the least serious sentence types, and are often used in combination with other more serious sentences.

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Note 13

Other most serious sentences include fines, restitution, absolute and conditional discharge, suspended sentence, community service order and prohibition orders, among others. Figures for 'other sentences' as the most serious sentence are low since they are among the least serious sentence types, and are often used in combination with other more serious sentences.

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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. Includes cases where a child sexual offence likely committed or facilitated online was the most serious offence in the case. Data exclude information from superior courts in Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, as well as municipal courts in Quebec due to the unavailability of data. Superior court information for Prince Edward Island was also unavailable until 2018/2019. Data for Quebec were not available for 2021/2022, 2022/2023 and 2023/2024.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics, Integrated Criminal Court Survey.
Cases related to child sexual offences likely committed or facilitated online  
Youth courts 339 15 551 429 619 1,953
Adult criminal courts 1,850 133 4,279 1,402 1,636 9,300
Type of decision—youth courts  
Guilty Table 7 Note 4 223 14 331 193 327 1,088
Aquitted Table 7 Note 5 6 0 4 11 9 30
Stayed, withdrawn, dismissed or discharged Table 7 Note 6 110 0 215 224 283 832
Other Table 7 Note 7 0 1 1 1 0 3
Type of decision—adult criminal courts  
Guilty Table 7 Note 4 1,269 96 3,305 885 1,084 6,639
Aquitted Table 7 Note 5 47 1 83 22 40 193
Stayed, withdrawn, dismissed or discharged Table 7 Note 6 496 33 851 448 500 2,328
Other Table 7 Note 7 38 3 40 47 12 140
Age group of adults found guilty Table 7 Note 8  
18 to 24 years 344 8 480 135 344 1,311
25 to 34 years 394 30 878 260 380 1,942
35 to 44 years 262 36 713 209 225 1,445
45 to 54 years 148 7 578 172 89 994
55 years and older 97 14 603 98 31 843
Sex of persons found guilty Table 7 Note 9  
Female 23 8 48 47 157 283
Male 1,374 94 3,388 945 1,183 6,984
Most serious sentence—youth courts Table 7 Note 10  
Custody and supervision 13 0 5 11 6 35
Probation Table 7 Note 11 143 10 214 132 191 690
Deferred custody and supervision 12 0 20 15 6 53
Community service 4 0 10 6 24 44
Other sentence Table 7 Note 12 29 2 49 17 87 184
Not available (guilty but no sentencing detail) 22 2 33 12 13 82
Most serious sentence—adult criminal courts Table 7 Note 10  
Custody 1,043 87 2,619 730 297 4,776
Probation Table 7 Note 11 34 1 97 18 462 612
Conditional sentence 50 2 213 16 239 520
Other sentence Table 7 Note 13 14 0 16 7 41 78
Not available (guilty but no sentencing detail) 128 6 360 114 45 653
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