Criminal Code

Marginal note:Sexual exploitation

• 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.

• Marginal note:Punishment

  (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.

• Marginal note:Inference of sexual exploitation

  (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.

• Definition of young person

  (2) In this section, young person means a person 16 years of age or more but under the age of eighteen years.