Question concerning legality of a privacy violation by police?

[bw022]

The police can not log on to someone else's Facebook account and read their messages. They require a user name and password, same as anyone else. They would have to get the password either from Facebook (with a court issued search warrant), her, or the have found it on the computer with the permission of the owner -- presumably her parents. As such, it was almost certainly legally obtained.

They obviously had a legal reason to do this. Someone told them what was on her Facebook account. The police have better things to do than driving to some random person's house, asking their parents if they can access their kids computer, and then searching through billions of Facebook posts. Obviously she either showed or told someone about her Facebook posts and someone then told the school, who then called the police. The information must have been pretty illegal and specific for all three groups to act. Most likely, the police knew exactly what they were looking for.

Also, if your girlfriend is under 18 and living a home, her parents can consent to anything. The police don't require permission of a minor when their parents agree to the search.

Finally, in Canada illegally obtained evidence (not that this was) is usually still admissible in court - baring entrapment and clear miscarriages of justice. The police (or those who obtained the evidence) may be subject to certain legal penalties, but the evidence once discovered is admissible. If the police have a search warrant, break down the wrong door, and find a pile of drugs... you're still going to jail.