Child pornography charge against former Peterborough radio personality stayed

A child pornography trial for a former Peterborough radio personality will not proceed after a judge ruled his charge stayed on Monday.

Ryan Lalonde was arrested in April 2020 and charged with one count of possession of child pornography after the Peterborough Police Service executed a search warrant at a residence and seized a number of electronic items.

According to court documents, in Ontario Court of Justice in Peterborough on Jan. 30, Justice Russell Wood ruled that the case had taken too long to get to trial — an argument the defence launched earlier this month.

Referencing Section 11 (b) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Wood noted the application of the 2016 “Jordan rule,” which means provincial court defendants have a right to be tried within 18 months of being charged; 30 months for cases in Superior court.

In Lalonde’s case, his scheduled three-day trial by judge alone was set to begin on Feb. 8, which would have been about 34 months since his arrest on April 16, 2020.

According to The Peterborough Examiner, Wood noted the Crown and defence both agreed to attribute five months of delays for the case due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The defence also conceded another three months for delays, Wood said.

But Wood said that meant the prosecution was still at fault for 20 months of delays. Wood also did not agree with the Crown’s argument that the case was complex which contributed to delays bringing the case to trial, The Examiner reports.

Lalonde is a former employee of The Wolf 101.5 FM, a division of Corus Entertainment. Corus Entertainment is also the parent company of Global News.