A Publication Ban In Canada In The Rehtaeh Parsons' Child Pornography Case - Is That Justice Still Denied?

In 2011, Parsons, then 16, attended a party, was raped and a photo taken during the crime was distributed all over her school. The police closed the investigation and referred to the photo as a "community matter", and not a subject for the police. Parsons was bullied and harassed and committed suicide in 2013. In the wake of her death that brought international attention to the tragic events,  Canadian authorities were forced to reopen the case and file charges against the boys at the party.

In the resulting child pornography case in Nova Scotia underway now, the boy, now 20, who took the photo, pled guilty last week to one count of manufacturing pornography. He's awaiting sentencing. The boy in the photo, now 19, is awaiting trial.  

But the media has not been allowed to use her name in their coverage of the trial due to the judge's enforcement of a section of the Canadian criminal code that in theory is supposed to protect the victim. Because the trial is happening in youth court, the names of the boys are left out as well. Nova Scotia's Chronicle Herald has reported on the "high profile child porn case" but due to the absence of Parsons' name, readers are likely not aware of who is involved. On Canada.com, her name is “synonymous with a nation-wide push for better laws around bullying, revenge porn, consent and how police respond to allegations of sexual assault,” but there is no mention of her name. Several Canadian news organizations protested the ban last April and a second judge acknowledged that Parsons “has achieved quasi-celebrity status where she is known by just her first name.” But the ban was upheld, leading some critics to decry the legal system for just trying to protect itself after the failings became public.

To read more about the ban, go to http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/09/29/rehtaeh_parsons_canadian_journalists_can_t_print_her_name_as_a_suspect_pleads.html