On the Quebec Judiciary and Phenomenon of Online Child Luring

Online child luring (OCL) or the use of transmission media connected computers to facilitate the sexual abuse of a child is not a new social problem. Seventeen years have passed since parliament introduced section 172.1 (luring a child) to the Criminal Code of Canada in the hope of addressing "a growing phenomenon" [McLellan, 2001. House of Commons Debates 37th Parliament 1st Session. Edited Hansard 137(54):3581]. While the government has, on several occasions, moved to increase the length of sentences adjoined to section 172.1, little research exists on how judges perceive OCL or that which constitutes an appropriate judicial response. Using the written decisions of criminal cases tried in the province of Quebec, I focus on these perceptions or, rather, their descriptive indicators.