The Supreme Court of Canada has granted leave to appeal the
Ontario Court of Appeal's decision in R. v. Cole, 2011
ONCA 218. Mr. Cole, a teacher, was charged with possession of child
pornography and unauthorized use of a computer after a computer
technician accessed his laptop to perform a virus scan and verify
the system's integrity. In doing so, the technician found a
hidden folder on the hard drive containing nude sexually explicit
photos of a grade 10 student. The technician reported this to the
principal who, in turn, reported it to the school board. The school
board that employed Mr. Cole turned over the laptop and two discs
of the images to the police who searched them without a warrant.
Mr. Cole challenged the charges against him on the basis that the
police had infringed his Charter right against unreasonable search
and seizure because he had a reasonable expectation of privacy in
the contents of the laptop.
