Section 151 of the Criminal Code of Canada reads as follows:

Every person who, for a sexual purpose, touches, directly or indirectly, with a part of the body or with an object, any part of the body of a person under the age of 16 years (a) is guilty of an indictable offence and is liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 14 years and to a minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of one year; or (b) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and is liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years less a day and to a minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of 90 days.

The section contains a mandatory minimum punishment whether the Crown proceeds by way of summary conviction or indictment.

Defences to this charge are limited, and will be focussed on specific facts presented. The defence of honest mistake in age is potentially available, however, the accused must be able to demonstrate that he took reasonable steps in the circumstances to determine the age of the victim.

A conviction under section 151 of the Criminal Code will require the offender to register in the sex offender registry as well as pursuant to Ontario's Christopher's Law. A DNA order as well as a weapons prohibition are available to the Crown.