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An Ottawa judge has ruled that mandatory minimum sentences for two sex offences should not apply in the case of a naïve and unsophisticated pimp who unwittingly recruited and photographed two underage prostitutes.

Justice Colin McKinnon said the minimum penalty demanded by law — a combined three-year prison term — would amount to cruel and unusual punishment for Steevenson Joseph, a 24-year-old first-time offender.

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Since Joseph does not deserve any jail time, the judge said, “it follows that the mandatory minimum sentences for his offences are grossly disproportionate.”

As a result, McKinnon struck down as unconstitutional the mandatory minimums for two offences: receiving a benefit from the prostitution of someone under 18, and making and possessing child porn.

He imposed a suspended sentence in the case along with one of year of probation.

McKinnon’s decision represents the latest in a series of similar rulings during the past three years in which judges have balked at applying obligatory penalties established by the federal government in the Criminal Code.