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Case information

Conduct a refined search of the Supreme Court of Canada database to obtain details on the status of a matter before the Court.


39314

Richard McSween v. Her Majesty the Queen

(Ontario) (Criminal) (By Leave)

(Publication ban in case)

Docket

Judgments on applications for leave to appeal are rendered by the Court, but are not necessarily unanimous.

List of proceedings
Date Proceeding Filed By
(if applicable)
2021-03-05 Close file on Leave
2020-12-11 Copy of formal judgment sent to Registrar of the Court of Appeal and all parties
2020-12-11 Judgment on leave sent to the parties
2020-12-10 Judgment of the Court on the application for leave to appeal, The application for leave to appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeal for Ontario, Number C66531, 2020 ONCA 343, dated June 3, 2020, is dismissed.
Dismissed
2020-12-07 Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form), Reply Richard McSween
2020-11-09 All materials on application for leave submitted to the Judges, for consideration by the Court
2020-10-16 Applicant's reply to respondent's argument, (Book Form), 23B missing (rec' 12/07/20), Completed on: 2020-11-09, (Printed version filed on 2020-10-22) Richard McSween
2020-10-08 Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form), 23B - Amended Form 23B required. (rec' 11/06/20) Her Majesty the Queen
2020-10-08 Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form), 23A Her Majesty the Queen
2020-10-08 Respondent's response on the application for leave to appeal, (Book Form), Missing: Amended Form 23B (rec' 11/06/20), Completed on: 2020-10-08 Her Majesty the Queen
2020-09-09 Letter acknowledging receipt of a complete application for leave to appeal, FILE OPENED 09/09/20
2020-09-01 Correspondence received from, (Letter Form), RE: Nadia Effendi is agent for the respondent. Her Majesty the Queen
2020-08-31 Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form), 23B Richard McSween
2020-08-31 Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form), 23A Richard McSween
2020-08-31 Application for leave to appeal, (Book Form), Completed on: 2020-08-31 Richard McSween

Parties

Please note that in the case of closed files, the “Status” column reflects the status of the parties at the time of the proceedings. For more information about the proceedings and about the dates when the file was open, please consult the docket of the case in question.

Main parties

Main parties - Appellants
Name Role Status
McSween, Richard Applicant Active

v.

Main parties - Respondents
Name Role Status
Her Majesty the Queen Respondent Active

Counsel

Party: McSween, Richard

Counsel
John K. Lefurgey
Martens Lingard LLP
700 - 43 Church Street
St. Catherine's, Ontario
L2R 7E1
Telephone: (905) 687-6551
FAX: (905) 687-6553
Email: jlefurgey@martenslingard.com
Agent
Marie-France Major
Supreme Advocacy LLP
100- 340 Gilmour Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K2P 0R3
Telephone: (613) 695-8855 Ext: 102
FAX: (613) 695-8580
Email: mfmajor@supremeadvocacy.ca

Party: Her Majesty the Queen

Counsel
Vallery Bayly
Lisa Joyal
Attorney General of Ontario
Crown Law Office - Criminal
10th Floor, 720 Bay Street
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 2S9
Telephone: (416) 326-5922
FAX: (416) 326-4656
Email: vallery.bayly@ontario.ca
Agent
Nadia Effendi
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
World Exchange Plaza
100 Queen Street, suite 1300
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1J9
Telephone: (613) 787-3562
FAX: (613) 230-8842
Email: neffendi@blg.com

Summary

Keywords

Criminal law — Offences — Elements of Offence — Applicant communicating via text messaging — Applicant charged with making child pornography, distributing child pornography, and child luring — Whether the Court of Appeal erred in determining that text messages should be treated exactly the same as videos, pictures, and stories when determining whether they constitute child pornography — Whether the Court of Appeal erred in determining that the context and the subjective intent of the sender of the text messages do not need to be considered — Whether the Court of Appeal erred in holding that joking is not a defence to child luring — Whether the Court of Appeal erred in its interpretation of child luring.

Summary

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

(PUBLICATION BAN IN CASE)

The allegations relate to text message communications between the applicant, a 46 year old man, and J.V., a 14 year old boy. A number of the text messages were of a sexual nature about J.V.’s 14/15 year old friend, N.B. Specifically, the applicant asked J.V. to send him photos of N.B.’s penis and repeatedly said he wanted to engage in sexual acts with N.B. At trial, the applicant admitted to authoring and sending inappropriate text messages to J.V. However, the applicant claimed he was not serious when he made his sexualized comments about N.B. or when he requested the photos. The trial judge acquitted the applicant. The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, set aside the acquittals, and ordered a new trial.

Lower court rulings

January 14, 2019
Ontario Court of Justice

No. 17 N2077

Acquittals entered

June 3, 2020
Court of Appeal for Ontario

2020 ONCA 343, C66531

Appeal allowed: acquittals set aside, new trial ordered

Memorandums of argument on application for leave to appeal

The memorandums of argument on an application for leave to appeal will be posted here 30 days after leave to appeal has been granted unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of the memorandum by filing out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a memorandum of argument or want to use a memorandum of argument, please contact the author of the memorandum of argument directly. Their name appears at the end of the memorandum of argument. The contact information for counsel is found in the “Counsel” tab of this page.

Downloadable PDFs

Not available

Factums on appeal

The factums of the appellant, the respondent and the intervener will be posted here at least 2 weeks before the hearing unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of factums by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a factum or want permission to use a factum, please contact the author of the factum directly. Their contact information appears on the first page of each factum.

Downloadable PDFs

Not available

Webcasts

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Date modified: 2025-03-25