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Home::Legal
How Canada Should Deal with Kiddie Porn
Author : Terry Dillon
In 1997, I pushed hard to establish a toll-free nationwide telephone number for reporting child pornography (over the internet). The reason it was not established was, "Customs' mandate is to ensure the facilitation of the movement of goods and travellers" (the response from Customs Head Quarters).
Here's what needs to be done and why:
1. Establish a national telephone number for reporting child pornography over the internet;
2. this number would be managed by a central unit under Customs Border Services;
3. Customs would initially verify the information source, then transfer the caller to the local Customs office closest to the person(s) with the obscene material (while at the same time transferring the fact sheet to that office);
4. Customs officers would all be trained in how to deal with such calls, and would respond by enforcing the Customs Act.
Background:
1. There are two national law enforcement agencies in Canada that deal with the public: RCMP and Customs;
2. RCMP mandate in respect to the internet is to deal with hate literature and copyright infringement, but NOT child pornography (with the exception of in rural areas such as northern BC or Alberta, etc. where there are no other local law enforcement agencies present);
3. Canada Customs is the only federal law enforcement agency that:
a) Has the legal authority to examine goods that are about to leave Canada or have recently entered Canada. As the Internet is a vehicle for importing software, Customs under section 99(1) has the authority to examine those goods.
http://www.canlii.org/ca/sta/c-52.6/sec99.html
These goods must be 'physically' in Canada, and we all now about Internet Explorer 'temp' files, so even if the culprit were to say they never saved images to their hard drives, simply by viewing it the data would be stored on their hard drives or at least completely assembled in memory if on a virtual drive.
b) Has the legal authority to act on behalf of other government departments (OGDs) under the Customs Act section 101:
http://www.canlii.org/ca/sta/c-52.6/sec101.html
Customs works with OGDs (Other Government Departments) all the time, and this is where it becomes effective in dealing with child pornography. Customs has the authority to examine goods without the need for a search warrant.
Persons must report goods to Customs officials:
http://www.canlii.org/ca/sta/c-52.6/sec13.html
Customs has the authority to request the goods to be presented for examination under Customs Act 12(b)
Put all this together and you have:
1. A national law enforcement agency with the legal authority to:
a) Examing goods that have recently been imported or are about to be exported, in this case 'software on disc';
b) work on behalf of other government departments, in this case in respect to law enforcement agencies such as Provincial police or in the case of remote areas the RCMP;
The key here is that being a national law enforcement agency fielding the calls from a centralized number ensures a high degree of consistency, which will obviously result in much higher convictions.
Also of great importance is the fact that Customs Officers have the legal authority to enter premises WITHOUT A SEARCH WARRANT through the powers granted by the Customs Act. And working with other government departments, in this case local police officers, an arrest may be made under the Customs Act, then evidence and suspects may be turned over to the respective local police agency who may then lay charges under the Criminal Code.
It is my professional opinion that the only way to deal with child pornography is to demand Canada Customs, as the only national law enforcement agency with the mandate to deal with child pornography over the internet, be forced to take on this one extra duty.
While I believe Customs is focusing on 'facilitation' they need to focus on protection. USA has had a national toll-free number at least as long as I've been demanding Canada Customs establish one - and that was back in 1993.
Side note, at that time I owned and managed the only (dedicated) Internet Cafe in Ottawa, Ontario. I had 2-page feature article published in 'The Internet News' titled, "Child Pornography: Crossing the Boundary". While a stack of papers was sitting there in my internet cafe, a young man who never noticed it came in to use my services. He told me he was looking for a job, so I gave him a very low rate to use the services.
One day when I had been updating my print server, he tried to print a page. But as the printer was offline, it did not go through. But when he left, I noticed he had a print job that did not go through, so thinking it was a job advertisement I decided to print his page for him. I was shocked to see he was printing a very explicit sexual act shown between a grown man and a male toddler.
I immediately called RCMP who informed me they did not deal with child pornography. So I called Customs headquarters and they informed me they too did not deal with child pornography. So I called the Ontario Provincial Police, and they too informed me in this case they did not deal with child pornography as it was within Ottawa city limits, where the City of Ottawa police handle it.
So I called the Ottawa Carleton Police (Detective Keith Daniels), and after a while I got a call back. Over the next three weeks I worked with two undercover officers who were able to finally make an arrest. All of this took approximately one month to make a single arrest.
In sincerely hope someone has the guts to push for REAL change. While candidates seeking election are saying they will take action on child pornography, they still don't get it - it's all about effectiveness. One call and Customs can be at the door examining the computer without a search warrant. An arrest can be made within minutes, not weeks or months. So if the logic of a national toll-free number doesn't reach the politicians, perhaps the dollars saved in payroll will instill them to act.
Terry Dillon
Tel: (613) 332-2277
About the author:
1988-1998 Customs Border Services Customs and Project Officer. Author of Customs commercial training course taken nationally by Revenue Canada information officers. Certified Customs Specialist (CCS) by the Canadian Society of Customs Brokers. Internet cafe owner, located in Bancroft Ontario.
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