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OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada upheld a decision Friday ordering new trials for two people accused of acting as pimps, after concluding they should have been able to cross-examine a complainant about the commercial aspect of her prior sex work.
The case looked at the application of section 276 of the Criminal Code, known as the rape shield law, which limits use of evidence about a complainant’s sexual history in court proceedings.
The law is intended to avoid “twin-myth” reasoning — the idea that a complainant’s prior behaviour makes them more likely to have consented to the alleged sexual activity, or less worthy of being believed.
Two individuals faced human trafficking and sexual services offences arising out of their relationship with the complainant. Sexual services and human trafficking offences are not listed in section 276.
Supreme Court Justice Mary Moreau wrote in the unanimous decision that section 276 doesn’t categorically apply to those two offences and there are cases where evidence of sexual history is relevant.
Moreau said in this case, the evidence focused on the commercial aspect of the complainant’s prior sex work.
“While evidence of a complainant’s prior sex work should not be adduced to show a propensity to engage in sex work or sexual activity generally, such evidence may be relevant for other legitimate inferential purposes, as in the instant case,” Moreau said in the decision.
She said the evidence “related to the commercial nature of the complainant’s work, not its sexual nature, and it was being proffered to suggest that the complainant previously pursued work in the sex trade voluntarily, as opposed to being lured or exploited by the accused into working in the industry.”
Moreau said it’s the job of the courts to “balance the elimination of myths and stereotypes in sexual offence cases with the accused’s right to full answer and defence.”
In 2020, the two men were initially acquitted of human trafficking but were convicted of advertising, procuring and receiving material benefit from sexual services.
The Ontario Court of Appeal allowed their appeal and ordered a new trial on the sexual services offences in 2024. The Crown then appealed that decision to the Supreme Court.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2026.
— With files from Jim Bronskill
Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press
