West's Case — Sex offender Registry (SOIRA)

Client:  West T., pardoned sex offender
Reporting Obligation:  Sex Offender Information Registration Act (SOIRA)

Background:  West had been convicted in 2000 of sexual interference in Ontario. In December 2008, he received a pardon under the Criminal Records Act. Now living in another province, both the R.C.M.P. and the local police were telling him that he still had to report under Canada's Sex Offender Information Registration Act (SOIRA). The police further told him that he would have to apply to Court to terminate his reporting obligation as a sex offender. West was sorry for what he had done and for the pain he had caused. With his pardon, he felt this was his time to finally put this sad chapter behind him. He felt the police were not treating him fairly.

Goals:  West wanted to know if the police were wrong. If so, he wanted me to convince them to acknowledge the termination of his reporting obligations.

Strategy:  As a first step, I told West to continue reporting. I did not want to run the risk of him being charged criminally for failing to report as the police thought he should. The next task was the research. What I thought was a simple issue turned out to be rather complicated. Because West was at one point an obligant under Ontario's Christopher's Law, he was required to report under the federal SOIRA (after receiving a notice under section 490.019 of the Criminal Code). He was what the police called a "retrospective case": he was convicted after Christopher's Law was in force but before SOIRA became law. Fortunately for West, and unlike SOIRA's court-ordered obligants, West's reporting obligations terminated when he was pardoned (see sections 490.022(2)(c) and 490.02(1)(b) of the Criminal Code.) The third step was convincing the police of my position.

Results:  I made contact with both the local police Sergeant and with the R.C.M.P. Corporeal responsible for collecting information under SOIRA. Both accepted my position. West formally presented his pardon. That ended both his inclusion on the federal sex offender registry and his reporting obligations.

READ LETTER TO R.C.M.P.

Caution:  If you now report under either Ontario's Christopher's Law or Canada's Sex Offender Information Registration Act, do not stop reporting because of what you have read here, as West's situation may be different from yours. If you are unsure of your reporting obligations, consult an experienced criminal law lawyer in your local area.

READ WEST'S TESTIMONIAL