Madam Justices Fraser, Conrad and Picard, further noted that, "every offense which Neve committed was entangled in some way with her life as a prostitute. While prostitutes, juvenile or otherwise, are not immune from criminal prosecution and personal accountability, one cannot be oblivious to the realities of life on the street and it's corrupting influence. No one is suggesting that others in these subcultures are not entitled to protections from those who would visit violence upon them. They are. And no one is suggesting that an offender can abandon personal responsibility for criminal acts simply by pointing the finger of blame at someone or something else. But neither does this mean that ignoring extreme circumstances which sometimes result in those in the subculture turning to physical actions, or threats, or substance abuse, or whatever, in a misguided, and often illegal, attempt to deal with the fallout of a life of prostitution. Nor does it mean overlooking the possibility of cure or change if the offender is removed from the subculture" (71-72).

The Court further identified that such other considerations as personal circumstances need to be taken into account when assessing young people. To this end, they discussed Lisa's particular circumstances as follows:

"Here we have a youthful offender. Neve was only 18 when she committed the predicate offense here, the robbery, and 21 when convicted. She is partly of Aboriginal origin, having been adopted by her family when she was three months old. Her education is extremely limited since she quit school at 12, following considerable problems which arose, according to her father, between grades 4 to 6. She has been a prostitute since she was 12. She was involved in an abusive relationship with one of her pimps who was eventually convicted of a serious assault against her.

The sentencing judge found that Neve had a problem with substance abuse when not in custody, not only with alcohol, but also with other drugs. It must be concluded that Neve did not have a great deal of insight into the extent of these problems and others since the sentencing judge found that she ‘was nonchalant about the use of drugs and didn't think she had a problem.' But the existence of drug problem is not unusual with juvenile prostitutes, many of whom resort to this escape to help them cope with life on the streets.... Hence the reason why the sentencing judge should consider the potential for improvement on this front if the offender is removed from the prostitution subculture and what effect this might reasonably have on the assessment of the likelihood of future harm" (72).