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JUDGE TREATS CONVICTED PEDOPHILE WITH KID GLOVES

Robin Sharpe Sentenced only to 4 Months House Arrest - laws "a bad joke"

VANCOUVER, May 3, 2002 (LSN.ca) -The complete disarray of Canada's justice system was put on display again this week in the sentencing by a B.C. judge of unrepentant child porn creator Robin Sharpe. The prosecutor requested a jail sentence of 10 to 12 months because Sharpe showed no remorse and wasn't interested in treatment. He also said "a conditional sentence would be unlikely to deter [Mr. Sharpe]." The prosecutor also wanted the sentence to reflect "society's collective condemnation" of Mr. Sharpe's actions, which included taking pictures of 91 very young boys involved in explicit sexual activity. Mr. Sharpe had been found convicted on two counts of possessing pornographic pictures of young boys.

Justice Duncan Shaw, who has consistently ruled generously towards Sharpe, sentenced him to only four months under house arrest. Shaw expressed doubts that Sharpe would be rehabilitated in jail and didn't think he was a risk to the public. The 67-year-old homosexual pedophile is required to serve his sentence in a tiny apartment in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. He must remain in the apartment, under electronic monitoring, between 4 p.m. and 8 a.m.; he is not permitted to have contact with anyone under 18; and his access to the Internet will be restricted by software that blocks out pornographic sites.

The judgement is seen by confounded child and family spokesmen as sending yet another message to deviants throughout Canada that they face little risk for activities that abuse children. Compounding the risk to Canadian children is the deafening silence from the federal Liberal Cabinet in terms of legislative reforms to deal with the "loopholes" that enabled Canadian courts and perversely obliging justices to treat Robin Sharpe with such deference. Prior to this decision, on April 25, Liberal MP Dan Mcteague sent a letter to the Justice Minister on the issue and said that the current laws "have become a bad joke - arrived at by judicial interpretations that see no problem in creating a constitutional right to exploit children."

Canadian Alliance Justice Critic Vic Toews condemned the sentence: "[It] is clearly inadequate as it fails to recognize the gravity of Mr. Sharpe's offence. Canadians condemn the violent sexual exploitation of children, and the courts must demonstrate that these crimes will be taken seriously. I find it astounding that this judge would state that Sharpe's criminal activities pose no danger to society.

Possessing and circulating material that depicts violent sexual activity with children is always harmful, whether or not it involves a real child." Lorna Dueck, founder of the National Coalition of Concerned Mothers, told the Vancouver Sun that even "a short jail term would have said volumes to our children in the land." Mr. Toews expressed the hope that the Crown will appeal "this overly lenient sentence."

See National Post story
http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?f=/stories/20020503/108593.html
LIBERAL MP URGES CANADA TO INVOKE NOTWITHSTANDING CLAUSE
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/mar/02032702
CANADA IS HAVEN FOR KIDDIE PORN
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2000/jan/00012703

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