Case information

Criminal law — Sentencing — Considerations — How courts should approach sentences for incest committed by parents on their children — How courts should approach sentences for crimes of sexual violence against victims with cognitive limitations — How sentences should account for systemic background factors when those factors affect both the offender and the victim —Whether and to what extent Gladue principles can be extrapolated to other equity-seeking communities?

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The respondent, an African Nova Scotian, pleaded guilty to incest. He had sexual intercourse with his biological daughter. The victim became pregnant as a result of the offence and had a baby. The baby was born with serious medical complications and significant developmental delays. The respondent and the victim both had an intellectual disability. The respondent was sentenced to a conditional sentence (CSO) of two years less a day to be followed by 24 months’ probation. A majority of the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. Farrar J.A., dissenting, would have determined a fit sentence to be a penitentiary term of 48 months less any time served on the CSO imposed in the court below.