Canadian Who Posted Photos on Facebook of Underage Girl Being Raped Gets No Jail Time

In late 2010, in a small suburb outside of Vancouver, a 16-year-old girl was drugged and repeatedly sexually assaulted during a rural rave. Instead of helping the girl, some teenage boys decided to take photographs of the scene, which they then passed along to their friends and posted on Facebook for the world to see.

For the first person convicted—charged with making and distributing child pornography, the youth pleaded guilty to distributing obscene material—no jail time has been issued, raising concerns over B.C.'s increasingly soft justice system. The criminal has been sentenced to 12 months of probation, must write an apology to the victim, and, in an elementary-school-esque punishment, must compose an essay about the pros and cons of social media.

Two named criminals, Colton Ashton McMorris and Dennis John Allen Warrington, have yet to go to trial. Colton was charged with sexual assault while Dennis was charged with making and distributing child pornography.