The law says
Criminal Code s. 153- (1)Every person commits an offence who is in a position of trust or authority towards a young person, who is a person with whom the young person is in a relationship of dependency or who is in a relationship with a young person that is exploitative of the young person, and who (a) for a sexual purpose, touches, directly or indirectly, with a part of the body or with an object, any part of the body of the young person;
- (b)for a sexual purpose, invites, counsels or incites a young person to touch, directly or indirectly, with a part of the body or with an object, their own body, the body of the person who so invites, counsels or incites or the body of any other person; or
- (c)for a sexual purpose, invites, counsels or incites the young person to expose their own sexual organs.
- (1.1)Every person who commits an offence under subsection (1) (a) is guilty of an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 14 years and to a minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of one year; or
- (b)is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and is liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years less a day and to a minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of 90 days.
- (1.2)A judge may infer that a person is in a relationship with a young person that is exploitative of the young person from the nature and circumstances of the relationship, including (a) the age of the young person;
- (b)the age difference between the person and the young person;
- (c)the evolution of the relationship; and
- (d)the degree of control or influence by the person over the young person.
- (2)In this section, young person means a person 16 years of age or more but under the age of eighteen years.
Amendment History (7)
- R.S., 1985, c. C-46, s. 153
- R.S., 1985, c. 19 (3rd Supp.), s. 1
- 2005, c. 32, s. 4
- 2008, c. 6, s. 54
- 2012, c. 1, s. 13
- 2015, c. 23, s. 4
- 2026, c. 19, s. 10
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