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JOHN
ROBIN SHARPE
The 2002
British Columbia child pornography case of John Robin Sharpe, has not only
angered parents and frustrated child advocates, it has developed into an
internationally controversial issue.
Penticton
Herald, Tuesday, January 26, 1999
DENE
MOORE - Canadian Press -Tuesday, March 26, 2002 - (CP/Chuck Stoody)John Robin
Sharpe, whose case helped shape Canada's child pornography laws, is surrounded
by reporters outside B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver Tuesday.
(CP/Chuck
Stoody) VANCOUVER (CP) John Robin Sharpe, whose case has helped Shape Canada's
child pornography laws, won his argument that his graphic writings, some of them
violent, held artistic merit and shouldn't be considered criminal.
"I find
there is some objective established artistic value to Boyabuse,"
Justice Duncan Shaw ruled in a decision Tuesday. During his second trial in
January, University professors called to testify by Sharpe's lawyers likened the
stories in Sharpe's Boyabuse to literary greats such as Charles Dickens and
James Joyce. But another expert called the writings childish and crude. A
psychiatrist who works with sex offenders testified Sharpe's writing was among
the most violent he had ever read.
Sharpe has been the
pivotal character in Canada's child porn debate. Shaw heard Sharpe's original
trial in 1999 and agreed with Sharpe that Canada's child pornography law
contravened freedom-of-speech provisions. The B.C. Court of Appeal upheld that
ruling.
The Supreme Court of
Canada, however, struck it down and instead upheld Canada's law with two
exceptions.
One of them was
artistic merit. The high court ruling last year cleared the way for Sharpe to be
tried again on charges of possession of child pornography and distribution of
it. But the ruling also opened the door to allow Sharpe to argue his penned
works held artistic merit.
Sharpe admitted that
some photographs found in his possession in his Vancouver apartment could be
considered child pornography. Shaw convicted him on those charges.
But Sharpe was
acquitted of the more serious distribution charges relating to his own works.
Besides works with artistic merit, the Supreme Court also exempted material
created privately and not for distribution, such as personal journals and
drawings.
As well, the high
court said people can possess video recordings or photographs of themselves, but
they must not depict unlawful sexual activity, must be for private use and be
created with the consent of all involved.
In Canada, the age
of consent for sex is 14 but one must be at least 18 to lawfully take part in
pornography. Any material that highlights the sexual depiction of genitalia or
the anus of someone under the age of 18 would be considered child porn, the
court ruled.
Copyright 2002 The
Canadian Press
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WILLOW
RIVER, B.C.
James Darren
Bennett, Crystal Dianne Henricks
From the Province
Newspaper - September 26, 1997 - Page A4.
COMMERCIAL
SEX INFORMATION SERVICES
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BRIDAL
FALLS,
B.C.
Michael Andrew
Gibbon
Michael
Gibbon was arrested in March 1997 for his activities in what has since been
commonly been referred to as the 'Bridal Falls Pornography Operation'. Police
seized 53 rolls of undeveloped film, three video-cassette recorders, computer
equipment, more than 400 videotapes, 15 CD-ROMs and 41 floppy disks.
Initial reports of
the time period alleged that he had been filming the molestation and rape of
young children and acts of beastiality in the Bridal Fall,
Agassiz, and Harrison Lake areas, all of which are only a few miles from
Chilliwack, B.C.
Persons that knew Michael Gibbon have publicly described him as a
28-year-old man with the mind of a 15 year old, and have questioned his ability
to organize and operate an Internet pornography system, given his mental and
emotional capabilities. How he was able to maintain such an intricate
cyber-space child pornography operation, and remain undetected for so long,
definitely does have a tendency to raise the curiosity factor substantially.
A Vancouver Sun
newspaper story of 1997
contains
an
interesting quote referring to the RCMP's suspicions of Gibbon's activities
prior to his arrest, 'Stuff that seemed to be there, disappeared before it could
be seized by the police.'
A
statement given by RCMP Sgt. Peter Montague during the Gibbon investigation is
worth repeating. When referring to the two little girls that were photographed
being raped, Sgt Montague is quoted as saying, 'The children need help urgently.
Without treatment these little girls have no chance. It's absolutely essential
that these girls be identified. These children require help big-time, big-time.'
During the time
period Michael Gibbon was involved with these child pornography activities,
there were numerous child abuse reporting involving several different children
in the Hope and Chilliwack area. These reportings were virtually ignored by both
the RCMP and the Ministry for Children and Families. Not only were they ignored,
it is a matter of record that children have disclosed being threatened by RCMP
officers and physically reprimanded by 'persons unknown' for disclosing their
abuse. Not only were children threatened and beaten for disclosing sexual abuse,
both the RCMP and Ministry, did absolutely and undeniably, file false and
misleading reports, alter documentation and provide fictitious witness
statements in these cases.
Even with the
numerous child sexual abuse and pornography disclosures being reported to the
Hope RCMP at the time it was the U.S. Customs who
identified
the
child pornography operations.
Staff
Sgt. E.D. Hill (ret), NCO/IC of the Hope RCMP Detachment at the time, has been
publicly accused of, among other things, 'Pedophilia, Sexual Assault, Physical
Violence, Torture, and other Crimes Against Humanity in Canada.', by Rev. Kevin
Annett. Rev. Annett's accusations are supplementary to serious concerns related
to Sgt. Hill's 'time' in Hope, B.C. Rev. Kevin Annett.
Statement
of Claim made before the United Nations and the World Community
From the Province Newspaper - April 27, 1997 - Page A6.
COMMERCIAL
SEX INFORMATION SERVICES
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MERRITT,
B.C.
Victor Peter Schlick
From the Vancouver
Sun Newspaper - April 22, 1997 - Page B3.
COMMERCIAL
SEX INFORMATION SERVICES
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CLINTON,
B.C.
William Bennest
"Former school
principle"
From the
Province Newspaper - September 6, 1996
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SEX INFORMATION SERVICES
From the
Province Newspaper - October 10, 1997
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AN
EXAMPLE OF THE TYPE OF E-MAIL MESSAGE RELATED TO
CHILD PORNOGRAPHY ON THE INTERNET
