Sexual offences lawyer in Toronto

A sexual offence charge carries consequences that reach further than almost any other charge in the Criminal Code — reputation, employment, and years of your life if convicted. Being charged is not the same as being guilty, and a proper defence is what the justice system is supposed to guarantee everyone.

Sexual assault

Sexual assault covers a wide range of conduct, from the base offence through to aggravated forms involving weapons, multiple parties, or serious injury, and the Crown's burden and the potential consequences scale with it. The central issue in almost every case is consent — whether it was present, whether it was voluntary, and whether the complainant had the capacity to give it. Canadian law defines consent narrowly and specifically: it must be given for the specific act in question, it can be withdrawn at any time, and it cannot be given by someone who lacks the capacity to do so, including through incapacitation.

Historical allegations

There is no limitation period for indictable sexual offences in Canada, which means a charge can be laid many years, even decades, after the event alleged. These cases raise distinct challenges on both sides: memories fade, records and potential witnesses are often long gone, and reconstructing a timeline from years or decades earlier takes real work. None of that makes a historical allegation untrue, and none of it makes it automatically true either — it makes careful, thorough investigation of the record that does exist especially important.

Luring and exploitation

Child luring involves using a means of telecommunication to communicate with a person who is, or who the accused believes to be, under the age of consent, for a sexual purpose. Sexual exploitation involves a person in a position of trust, authority, or a relationship of dependency toward a young person. Both are charges the law treats very seriously, and both frequently turn on digital evidence — messages, timestamps, and what a person actually knew or believed, rather than what a screenshot appears to show in isolation.

Consent, capacity, and honest but mistaken belief

An honest but mistaken belief that the other person was consenting is a recognised defence in Canadian law, but it is a narrow one. It is not available where the belief arose from self-induced intoxication, recklessness, or wilful blindness, and the accused must be able to point to reasonable steps taken, in the circumstances known at the time, to find out whether there was consent. Whether those steps existed, and what was actually known or said between the parties, is where these cases are genuinely won or lost.

Where these cases are defended

• Credibility and reliability. Consistency between an initial disclosure, a formal statement, and testimony, and how those compare to any contemporaneous messages or records.
• Timing and disclosure. When and how an allegation was first made, and to whom, are often significant, though delayed disclosure is common and is not by itself evidence that an allegation is false.
• Digital evidence. Messages, call records, and location data are frequently central, and reading them in full context rather than in isolated screenshots matters enormously.
• The scope of consent actually given. What was agreed to, and whether it was withdrawn, is a fact-specific inquiry that the Crown must prove, not assume.
• Identification, in cases where the allegation involves a stranger or someone only briefly known to the complainant.

The consequences beyond a conviction

A conviction for a sexual offence can carry registration under the national sex offender registry, a DNA order, and long-term restrictions on employment and travel, on top of the sentence itself. A publication ban commonly protects a complainant's identity throughout the proceeding, and it is a criminal offence to breach one — if you are unsure what a ban in your case actually covers, ask your lawyer before you say anything publicly, including online.

What to do now

1. Say nothing to the police without a lawyer present. Investigators commonly seek a formal statement, and sometimes arrange a monitored call with the complainant. Do not participate in either without legal advice first.
2. Do not contact the complainant, for any reason, including to apologize or to try to resolve things directly. It can constitute a fresh offence and it will damage your case badly.
3. Preserve your own records. Messages, call logs, and anything else that documents the relationship or the events in question, exactly as they exist now.
4. Call a lawyer immediately, before you speak to investigators, family, or anyone else about the substance of the allegation.

Common questions

Other charges we defend