Possession of child pornography and a related charge against a Fort Saskatchewan teenager have been stayed after an Alberta judge ruled his rights were violated when police released his name when he was 17 years old.
In a written ruling last week, Provincial Court Judge Patricia Kvill found that the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team breached the Youth Criminal Justice Act when it published a media release naming the underage teen as a suspect in a child porn investigation.
Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, it is a crime to publish the names of accused people younger than 18, or anything that could identify them.
“The Youth Criminal Justice Act, at its heart, intends to not only hold young offenders responsible for their crimes but also to ensure that these youth afforded the best opportunity to renounce crime and become good citizens,” Kvill wrote in staying the charges.
“It is virtually impossible to stuff the genie back into the bottle once information has been published on the internet,” wrote Kvill.
In an email to CTV News, ALERT Supt. Chad Coles expressed regret at the error.
"ALERT inadvertently released the name of the young offender. Since that time, ALERT has instituted a number of administrative processes to further prevent a similar situation from happening again."
Posed as a modelling agency
Kvill’s ruling traces the case back to January of 2018 when the 17-year-old female victim, was contacted by someone claiming to be with a well-known modelling agency and offering the possibility of a professional photo shoot for lingerie company La Senza.
The shoot was contingent on the victim sending in topless photos, supposedly for the agency’s consideration.
The emailer was actually a 17-year-old high school classmate.
According to the decision, the victim’s mother’s took and sent the photos but soon grew suspicious. She contacted the modelling agency who confirmed that the emailer was an imposter, prompting an undercover police investigation.
Guilty plea
On Aug. 15, 2018, police raided the youth’s home and found the topless photos and phony email account on his computer.
He was arrested and charged under the Youth Criminal Justice Act and later pleaded guilty to possession of child porn and a related charge.
On the morning of Nov. 7, 2018, ALERT posted a media release providing the names, ages and hometowns of 13 suspects who had been arrested for child luring and related offences, including the accused who was listed as being 18 in the release but was actually 17.
Later that afternoon, ALERT was informed it had named a youth in its release, and that his name was being widely reported across media.
Less than two hours later, ALERT issued a corrected release without naming the youth and began following-up with media, asking outlets to remove his name from their stories.
Hard to remove
In her ruling, Kvill describes how publishing the youth’s name, coupled with subsequent community gossip, isolated him personally and financially.
“He was alienated and ostracized by friends and schoolmates. He believes he is unable to obtain employment as a result of the publication of his name.”
Kvill noted his name is still available in cached and archived versions of news stories.
“Careless acts by government agencies shake the integrity of the youth justice system,” wrote Kvill. “The actions of ALERT, in publishing the name ... can not be remedied by a mere notice to media.”
The judge called the release “sensational” and noted that prosecutors agreed that it had violated the young man's charter rights.
Kvill ordered the charges stayed, saying the youth was harmed and continues to be harmed by ALERT’s actions.
“Young offenders must follow the law,” wrote Kvill. “So too must agencies of government.”