Teenager in western Nunavut town faces porn charge: RCMP

A youth,14, from Cambridge Bay, charged with porn distribution, voyeurism and sexual assault, is set to appear June 27 at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit. (FILE PHOTO)

Police have charged a Cambridge Bay youth with distributing pornographic images, voyeurism and sexual assault.

Although not specifically mentioned in the RCMP’s June 20 release, posting or sharing images online appears to have contributed to these charges being laid against the 14-year-old youth.

“Think before you post! Do you have consent to send that image? People need to understand that sharing intimate images without consent is an offence,” said RCMP Cst. Danielle Pollock of the RCMP “V” Division Federal Operations Section in the release.

“We can’t express enough the devastating effects this simple act can have on a person, their family and the community.”

The charges came June 15 after a four-month investigation involving RCMP members in Nunavut, with assistance from the Nunavut RCMP Federal Operations Section and assistance from specialized RCMP units from Ontario and British Columbia, the RCMP said June 20.

The youth, who appeared before the Nunavut Youth Court of Justice for a bail hearing in Cambridge Bay, was released on conditions that prohibit any access to the internet, access to computer devices and restricts the youth’s access to any person under 16.

The youth’s next court appearance has been set for June 27 at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit.

As for the charges, the Criminal Code of Canada’s section 163 makes it an offence for anyone who “makes, prints, publishes, distributes, circulates, or has in his possession for the purpose of publication, distribution or circulation any obscene written matter, picture, model, phonograph record or other thing whatever.”

Section 162 of the code, on voyeurism, applies to anyone “who, surreptitiously, observes including by mechanical or electronic means—or makes a visual recording of a person who is in circumstances that give rise to a reasonable expectation of privacy,” or “the person is in a place in which a person can reasonably be expected to be nude, to expose his or her genital organs or anal region or her breasts, or to be engaged in explicit sexual activity,” or the person is nude, is exposing his or her genital organs or anal region or her breasts, or is engaged in explicit sexual activity, and the observation or recording is done for the purpose of observing or recording a person in such a state or engaged in such an activity,” or “the observation or recording is done for a sexual purpose.”

The RCMP said in its release that it encourages everyone to be a voice for children who are, or may be, victims of sexual exploitation and urged people to report suspected offences to their local police or by using Canada’s National tip line for reporting online sexual exploitation of children here.