TORONTO — The mandatory minimum sentence of one year in prison for luring a child into sexual activity via the internet is unconstitutional, Ontario's top court has ruled.

In upholding an earlier decision, the Court of Appeal said that forcing the courts to impose at least a 12-month jail term could, in some cases, be out of line with the various acts captured by the law.

Canadians, the court said, would find the one-year minimum to be abhorrent and intolerable to their sense of decency in cases where a person's comparative blameworthiness is less serious.

Concerns about 'grossly disproportionate' sentences

"Application of the mandatory minimum to such a wide range of behaviour would result in sentences that are grossly disproportionate for some individuals," the Appeal Court said.

The court, however, did uphold the constitutional validity of the offence itself despite finding that one part — presuming an accused knew a victim was underage — also violated the Constitution.

The decision, the latest in a string of court rulings that have struck down tough-on-crime provisions enacted by the former Conservative government under Stephen Harper, arose in the case of Douglas Morrison, a Toronto-area man in his late 60s. Morrison posted a personal "casual encounters" ad on Craigslist in 2013 in which he wrote: "Daddy looking for his little girl to meet and have some fun with him."

Court records show a Mia Andrews responded, writing she was 14 years old. Over two months, Morrison and Mia had sexually explicit conversations via computer and he suggested at one point they meet in Brampton, Ont., which they never did.

Mia turned out to be a police officer and Morrison, a golf-course groundskeeper in a long-term common-law relationship, was charged with child luring.