Minimum sentences for child porn often ignored by courts in Canada

The Supreme Court struck down the 12-month mandatory minimum sentence for possession of child sex abuse material in October in a controversial decision. A new analysis finds judges have been issuing sentences outside the mandatory minimum for years. Photo by The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

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Courts across Canada have been issuing sentences for years that were less than the mandatory minimum for possession of child sexual abuse material, the Investigative Journalism Bureau has found.

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The government announced this week it will propose amendments that would allow the reinstatement of the mandatory minimum. The announcement follows public and political outrage over the Supreme Court’s decision last month to strike down the 12-month mandatory minimum for child sexual abuse material possession offences.

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But a random analysis of 100 cases between 2020 and 2025 reviewed by the IJB found that one in three sentences for child sexual abuse material possession had not adhered to the previous sentencing minimum.

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While the average sentence for possession of child sexual abuse material was 20 months in the cases analyzed by the IJB, judges imposed “exceptional sentences” in 30 out of 100 that fell below the mandatory minimum.

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In 19 of the 30 cases, convictions for child porn possession resulted in a sentence under 12 months. In 17 of the 30 cases, the accused were allowed to serve their sentences in the community.

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Mandatory minimums are being circumvented in Canada in a number of ways, legal experts say, including the justice system deeming some charges “a less serious” crime. In other cases, lower courts have deemed the mandatory minimum unconstitutional, arguing “the mandatory minimum leads to grossly disproportionate sentences.”

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Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Sean Fraser at the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa on Oct. 6, 2025. Fraser said this week the government will bring in proposed changes that ‘would ensure that those serious cases of abuse are met with serious penalties.’ Photo by Sean Kilpatrick /The Canadian Press

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Among the earliest examples in the IJB review of a judge sentencing outside the mandatory minimum happened in March 2020. An Alberta judge sentenced a man who had made and possessed child pornography of a 15-year-old girl to 24 months, to be served in the community.

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“Sending this accused to prison for a minimum of one year would outrage the standards of decency of most informed Canadians,” the decision reads. The judge went on to state that, due to being eligible for early release, the full sentence would likely not be served anyway.

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Janelle Blackadar, who recently retired from the Toronto Police Service where she worked in the child exploitation unit for nearly 20 years, calls the sentencing of child porn possession cases “very disheartening.”

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“Most people would agree — from the policing side — that it’s not stringent enough.”

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In March 2024, a B.C. judge sentenced a man to six months in prison following a guilty plea for possessing child sexual abuse material that depicted victims under the age of five.

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In November of the same year, a Brampton judge sentenced a man who pleaded guilty to possession of such material, and who was diagnosed with “pedophilic attraction,” to a six-month conditional sentence, to be served in the community.