Pornographer acquitted by his 'artistic merit'

Children's rights groups have been outraged by a Canadian judge's decision to acquit a child pornographer after deciding that his writings about youngsters involved in sadomasochistic sex with adults had artistic merit.

Justice Duncan Shaw of the British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver ruled that although the series of books by John Robin Sharpe contained material that most people would find "morally repugnant", his work should be considered an attempt at artistic expression in the same way as the writings of the Marquis de Sade.

"I find there is some objectively established artistic value to [the series]," the judge said in his ruling, adding that writings by De Sade included "scenes of sexual torture of women and children, scenes which in terms of sadistic cruelty and horror go far beyond those written by Mr Sharpe".

As part of the trial, university professors were called to give expert assessments of Sharpe's work. Some compared his books to the works of Charles Dickens and James Joyce.

Sharpe was acquitted of charges of intending to distribute child pornography through his Boyabuse collection of short stories – charges which carried a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. But he was found guilty of two charges of possession of child pornography related to the seizure of hundreds of photographs of children at his apartment in Vancouver. He could be jailed for two years when he returns to court in May.

Campaigners said the decision was a blow against children's rights. "It was pretty clear that the law was on the defence side," said Renata Aebi, a spokeswoman for the Alliance for the Rights of Children. "This is not art. This is not James Joyce. There's real harm here. It's just free speech at any cost. We have been led to believe this is simply an artistic merit case. It is not. It is the depiction of children being raped and tortured ... that constitutes a violation of children's rights."

Darrel Reid, president of Focus on the Family Canada, said the ruling put the rights of child pornographers ahead of protecting children.

Doreen Water, the Vancouver detective who led the investigation into Sharpe, said: "Anybody who looks at this material is going to be horrified, yet the people who want it are people whose interest is engaging in sexual activities with children."

Sharpe said he undertook the legal battle, which began with his arrest in 1995, "to make this a better and freer country". He has previously defended his belief that the law should not ban sex between adults and children.

His lawyer, Paul Burstein, hailed the acquittal as "a great victory, not only for Mr Sharpe, but for artistic and literary freedom in Canada".