Luring & exploitation

The Criminal Code of Canada defines luring of a child as the use of telecommunication to communicate with someone who is, or who the perpetrator believes to be, under the age of 18, for the purpose of facilitating the commission of an offence against that child.

Basically, child luring criminalizes the act of communicating with a child, or someone you believe to be a child, through the internet for the purpose of creating a sexual relationship. It does not matter if the individual the perpetrator is communicating with is not actually a child, as long as the perpetrator is under the impression that the individual is, in fact, a child. In Canada, the age of consent is 16, however, when it comes to communicating via the internet (chat rooms, text messaging, social media, etc), it is illegal to communicate with a person under the age of 18 (or a person you believe to be under the age of 18) for the purpose of a sexual relationship. This is most often achieved by sexual exploitation.

In broad terms, exploitation can be defined as the action or fact of treating someone unfairly in order to benefit from them. Exploitation of a child in the context of child luring often involves a sexual element.A child may be threatened, through the internet, to provide the perpetrator with explicit content such as pictures and videos. The perpetrator may use this content to exploit the child further or in order to create child pornography.

A long-lasting, life-changing stigma is associated with child luring and exploitation charges. That is why it is very important to contact a highly experienced and dedicated lawyer to represent you through these charges. If you are charged with a matter similar to this, contact our office.