TORONTO SUN
11.21.95 p.5
Consults lawyer
POLICE SEX SQUAD PROBES PROFESSOR;
He says he watched man and 12-year-old boy
by Scott Burnside
Metro Police will be given articles by Ryerson journalism professor Gerald Hannon advocating sex between adults and children and a videotape in which he confirms watching an adult/child sex act, a prosecutor says.
"I understand that this has been brought to the attention of the Metropolitan Toronto police, specifically the SIS," prosecutor Calvin Barry said yesterday. The Special Investigative Services unit, formerly the morality squad, deals with allegations of child pornography.
Hannon, who teaches freelance journalism at Ryerson, is a longtime proponent of "intergenerational" sex. But the issue resurfaced last week when Sun columnist Heather Bird reported Hannon was discussing his beliefs with students.
Ryerson is investigating the popular professor while Hannon has defended himself on radio and television programs.
During a weekend debate on CBC's On The Line program, Hannon admitted he wrote an article detailing an incident in which he watched a man having sex with a 12-year-old boy in a tent in the country.
"You were not there. I was. I don't write fiction. It happened," Hannon told Bird during the show.
When told Sunday his comments might lead to a police investigation, Hannon seemed taken aback. "You're kidding," he said. Later, he said he wouldn't comment until speaking with a lawyer.
Barry, who's prosecuted many sex offenders, said there are several areas of the Criminal Code that deal with issues of sex with children and child pornography.
It is illegal, for instance, to counsel, solicit or incite someone to commit a crime, even if the person doesn't actively participate in the crime, Barry said.
In the article in which Hannon mentioned the tent incident, Men Loving Boys Loving Men, Hannon describes going with a man into the country to observe the "relationship" the man had forged with a 12-year-old farmboy.
Barry said that regardless of whether a child consents to sex, if they are under age 14, it's a criminal act.
"Consent is not an issue," he said.
The Criminal Code also refers to sexual exploitation of anyone under age 18 by a person in a position of trust or authority.
The Men Loving Boys article, the focus of an earlier criminal charge which ended with Hannon's acquittal, describes various sexual relationships between men and boys.
Changes to child pornography laws in 1993 allow an accused to cite scientific, artistic or educational merit in defending allegedly pornographic material.
Ryerson spokesman Arnice Cadieux said the university probe should be completed by the end of next week.
http://www.clga.ca/Material/Records/docs/hannon/ox/squad.htm
Calvin Barry is a Toronto-based criminal lawyer with over 16 years experience as a senior crown attorney at Calvin Barry Professional Corporation - Criminal Lawyers. Calvin Barry Lawyer Toronto has practiced in the area of Criminal Law and Regulatory Offenses since October of 2004, accruing over 30 years experience in criminal law.
