Empathy and Rehabilitation Prevail, Avoiding Unnecessary Imprisonment for Sexual Communication

Mr. B lived a full life, working as a driver for a local car dealership in Edmonton, and struggled with a life of trauma from his father’s hands, severely impairing his learning and decision-making abilities as a child, which he continues to struggle with today. Furthermore, after suffering through multiple health scares over the years, Mr. B lives with multiple physical disabilities, and spends most of his time alone at home.  

Leading up to this, Mr. B was lured into a conversation with a member from a child protection team, who was pretending to be an underage girl. Though Mr. B expressed his confusion over her age multiple times, he ultimately continued a conversation with her for a few days, before denying to meet her as she was ‘too young’. The complainant, on the other hand, continued to goad him into conversation, before calling the police and reporting Mr. B for sexual communication with a child, leading to his arrest.  

After contacting us, our criminal defence solicitors immediately sprang to action to uncover the truth of the sexual communication with a child matter and protect our client. Apart from meticulously analysing all the evidence submitted by the prosecution, our defence lawyers worked closely with a forensic expert to analyse our client’s electronic devices to verify the conversations, and with a psychiatrist to provide a mental health report. Thanks to witness statements from our client’s friends and family, and the medical report, our criminal defence lawyers were able to prove that our client struggled with familial trauma and loneliness, and that his decision-making abilities were impaired due to his traumatic childhood, and his health conditions. Combining these factors together resulted in our client making poor decisions without fully understanding the consequences. 

During the trial, our defence lawyers submitted the evidence gathered and pushed forward an empathetic legal defence that highlighted our client’s struggles with his health, his past trauma, and the fact that he was not malicious in his intent. Moved by our lawyers’ defence arguments, the judge recognised that our client needed help and passed a suspended sentence, providing our client with a rehabilitative officer, rather than sentencing him to prison.  

Online conversations can have real-life consequences, which can greatly impact your life if you’re not careful. If you or someone you know is in a similar situation, please don’t hesitate to contact us now. We’re here to help defend your rights and protect your interests.  

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