The emotional debate started more than five years ago when photographs and stories were seized from John Robin Sharpe. The Supreme Court of Canada will rule on whether the law banning simple possession of child pornography violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Sharpe's cache included photographs of boys. Most were naked and appeared to be under 18, the minimum age to legally participate in porn, say court documents submitted by British Columbia government lawyers.
Some photos show boys kissing and engaged in oral sex.
Woven through the stories were suggestions the children enjoyed and sought sexual brutality, said the detective. At trial, Sharpe argued Canada's child pornography law is so broad it unjustly restricts his right to free expression. The judge agreed, unleashing sustained outrage from police, child welfare groups, advocates for victims of crime and others. They were even more upset when a split 2-1 decision from the B.C. Court of Appeal in June 1999 upheld the trial judge. This includes visuals highlighting the sexual depiction of genitalia or the anus of someone under the age of 18.