Sometimes, after a finding of guilt for sexual assault, the accused person can be sentenced to a conditional discharge. This means that as long as you follow a set of conditions for a set period of probation with no breaches, no criminal conviction will go on your record.
Sexual assault charges have many unique aspects to them. One of those unique aspects is that after a conviction for sexual assault, the offender is registered with law enforcement under the Sexual Offender Information Registration Act (“SOIRA”). But conditional discharges allow the offender to avoid a conviction. So does the offender still need to register under SOIRA?
This question was addressed in the case of R. v. John Clauden Bansil, 2020 BCPC 34. SOIRA talks about convictions but also says that the person should be registered when they are sentenced.
The Crown argued that the language around sentencing meant that the offender should always be registered when they are sentenced, even if no conviction is entered.
Judge Janzen found that because the language of SOIRA specifically references convictions, an offender who is sentenced to a conditional discharge will not need to register. He found that the reference to sentencing was only there to clarify when registration happened, not to mandate that every person being sentenced for sexual assault needed to register. He also referenced other cases where the judges had found that SOIRA did not apply to offenders being sentenced to absolute or conditional discharges.
It is rare for a person accused of sexual assault to be sentenced to a conditional discharge. In some circumstances, however, it is a possibility. For offenders, SOIRA is an intrusion into personal privacy and continues the stigma of the offence after the sentence is served. If you are charged with sexual assault and concerned about being registered in SOIRA, it is important to hire a good defence lawyer.