What is Sexual Interference?

The offence of sexual interference applies to situations in which there is any touching of a minor in a sexual manner. This can include masturbation, oral sex or intercourse. Section 151 of the Criminal Code states that every person who, for a sexual purpose, touches, directly or indirectly, with a part of the body or with an object, any part of the body of a person under the age of sixteen years is guilty of an indictable offence. It does not matter if the minor consented to the activity, except in limited circumstances where the accused is close in age to the minor (see our blog entry on “Age of Consent“). Nor does it matter if the minor instigated the touching so long as the accused had a sexual purpose when taking part. In some cases, it may be possible to argue that the touching was not for a sexual purpose, such as a situation where a parent is giving bath to a child. However, in the vast majority of cases the defence will be based on an argument that the Crown has failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that any sexual activity took place. The focus at trial will be to attack the credibility and reliability of the allegations. A discussion of what is involved in mounting such a defence can be found in out blog entry “The I Didn’t Do It Defence to a Sexual Assault Charge.”