Welcome to “Cases That Should Have Gone to the Supreme Court of Canada, But Didn’t!”
In this episode, Kyla Lee from Acumen Law Corporation discusses an entrapment case involving online police sting operations—and how the courts are struggling to define clear boundaries for police conduct in the digital age.
Key Points Discussed
The Legal Context
During an undercover police operation, officers posted online ads offering sexual services from individuals presented as under the age of 18. If someone responded to the ad, they were directed to an undercover officer posing as a pimp. Money was exchanged, and the person was brought to a room where they believed a 16-year-old awaited—only to be arrested.
One of the individuals caught in this sting operation challenged the charges, arguing that the police’s actions amounted to entrapment.
Entrapment and Online Investigations
Under Canadian law, for a police sting to be lawful, officers must have a particularized suspicion that illegal activity is occurring in a specific place. In digital settings, that place is the website where the sting is carried out.
This raises major questions: What distinguishes one website from another? Should the police have free rein to post ads across the internet without specific grounds for suspicion on each site? With the explosion of online communication—via platforms like WhatsApp, TikTok, and Facebook—these questions have become urgent and complex.
Missed Opportunity for Clarity
The Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear the appeal, missing a chance to clarify how entrapment laws should evolve in the context of digital communication. Without updated legal boundaries, there’s growing concern that police will be allowed to run increasingly broad fishing expeditions under the guise of sting operations, potentially ensnaring people who wouldn’t have otherwise committed a crime.
Why This Case Matters
- Digital Overreach: Our laws on entrapment were not built for a world where nearly all communication happens online. The case illustrates how outdated frameworks can give police expanded power with little oversight.
- Unclear Limits: The courts haven’t yet drawn meaningful lines between legitimate law enforcement tactics and unconstitutional entrapment in the digital sphere.
- Risk of Innocent Entrapment: Without clearer legal boundaries, individuals may be prosecuted for conduct that police effectively orchestrated, undermining core principles of criminal justice.
Topics Covered
- Entrapment in Canadian criminal law
- Particularized suspicion and its application to websites
- Police powers in digital sting operations
- The future of individual privacy and online liberties
