Canadian Supreme Court Rules Flashing Children OK From Living Room Window
OTTAWA, January 28, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com ) - A British Columbia man will not have to close his drapes when he commits indecent acts in his living room. The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that a person's private abode, even if it is in full view of the neighbourhood children, cannot be considered a public space. Anything, therefore, that Daryl Clark wants to do in it, including masturbation, is not a matter for the police.
On Oct. 28, 2000 Clark's neighbours complained to police when they saw him engaged in this activity in full view of their two daughters. The couple, identified only as Mr. and Mrs. S, were concerned that Clark was deliberately displaying himself to be seen by children. Lower courts concluded that Clark had consciously converted his living room into a public place.
"The living room of his private home was not a place 'to which the public (had) access as of right or by invitation, express or implied,'" Justice Morris Fish wrote.
"A person has the freedom in his or her own living room to do whatever they choose to do and is not caught by the criminal law if they have no intent to offend or insult someone who may not be on that private property."
