The Canadian Centre for Child Protection Inc. recently completed a study involving a review of all reported criminal case law in Canada where an individual recorded the sexual abuse of a child which occurred in person (as opposed to over webcam). The time period of review was 2001-2019, and several cases were identified that involved more than one offender perpetrating the abuse. The majority of those cases involved at least one male and one female offender, and a significant proportion also involved either the sexual violation of an animal, or the possession of one or more recordings or writings focused on animal sexual abuse. This session will highlight upon information from those cases as well as cases identified from 2020/2021. The objective of the session will be to draw out the similarities and differences that were observed between these "multiple offender" cases and cases where an offender acted alone, the dynamics between the offenders and their relationship to the child victim(s), the ways in which animals were incorporated into the overall offending, and the ways that the court approached the animal aspect of the offences.

Key Learnings

1. Raise awareness of the observed link between the production of child sexual abuse material, and animal sexual abuse offending, in Canadian case law
2. Identify the factors that appear in multiple offender scenarios that involve some form of animal sexual abuse as well as the production of child sexual abuse material
3. Offer recommendations for policy makers, and those who investigate child or animal abuse cases