A Victoria man found guilty of Internet luring and sex offences against a 13-year-old girl has lost an appeal of his convictions.
In October 2012, a B.C. Supreme Court jury convicted Aaron Edward Douglas Craig of communicating with a person under the age of 16 for the purposes of facilitating the commission of an offence, sexual touching of a person under 16 and sexual assault. The charge of sexual assault was later stayed.
Court heard that between November and December 2009, Craig, then aged 22, and the victim had communicated with one another through Nexopia, a social media website mainly used by teens. Her user name was “babygurl” and his was “AaronCraig.”
After exchanging messages, which became increasingly sexual, they met several times. On one occasion, they met at a fast-food restaurant and then walked to a secluded area near some bushes and had sexual intercourse.
Police found the incriminating messages after obtaining a search warrant for the accounts of the complainant and her friends.
Craig, who was sentenced to 15 months in jail and two years of probation, appealed his convictions, raising a number of arguments including that privacy rights had been violated by the search.
In her ruling dismissing the appeal, B.C. Court of Appeal Justice Elizabeth Bennett found that while there were defects in the search warrant, the evidence ought nonetheless to be admitted.
“To sum up, the police conduct was not egregious or intentional. The impact of the Charter breach on Mr. Craig’s protected interests was not significant because of the existence of the warrant and not at the most serious end of the scale.”
The value of the evidence was considerable and admission of the evidence would not on balance bring the administration of justice into disrepute, added the judge.
Justice David Harris and Justice Lauri Ann Fenlon agreed with Bennett’s ruling.
