David Andrew Riddell

Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision

David Andrew Riddell, a BC lawyer, was convicted of possessing child pornography contrary to s.163.1(4) of the Criminal Code and sentenced in February 2020 to a nine-month conditional sentence plus 15-month probation, with 20-year sex offender registration. A hearing panel found this constituted conduct unbecoming. Rather than proceed to a sanction hearing, the Discipline Committee accepted a Rule 4-29 proposal under which Riddell admitted the misconduct and gave a 10-year undertaking not to apply for re-admission or to practise law, effectively ceasing his membership as a result of disciplinary proceedings. No express finding of dishonesty was made; no fine or costs were ordered.

Duties found breached:

• Personal probity and fitness to practise

Aggravating factors:

• Serious offence involving young children in explicit sexual acts
• Images viewed over a prolonged period, not a single event
• 152 images and two videos of child pornography seized
• Prior professional conduct record consisting of two voluntary undertakings

Mitigating factors:

• No criminal record and entered a guilty plea
• Remorseful and took responsibility
• Attended extensive counselling with a registered psychologist and continued group counselling
• Struggled with mental health issues, work burnout and financial stresses
• Suffered significant collateral consequences including loss of law career and public stigma
• Assessed as low risk for future contact/sexual offending
• Promptly reported the search warrant and charges to the Law Society

⚠ figures not found verbatim in the source were dropped: ["unverified_suspension_months=120"]