Edmonton man accused of sexually assaulting, luring at least six children
Posted July 27, 2022 11:49 am.
Last Updated July 27, 2022 7:28 pm.
Police say an Edmonton man may have sexually assaulted at least six young girls after allegedly meeting them online, and then luring them into performing sexual acts.
The ALERT Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit says the 21-year-old suspect met the children on Snapchat.
Police say in some cases he managed to lure the girls by gaining access to their contacts, sometimes through extortion.
The alleged instances of child luring and sexual assault are believed to have taken place in Edmonton and Morinville, Alta.
Police say the youngest victim was 11 years old.
“In any instance where we are dealing with an 11-year-old who has been offended against by a stranger is extremely scary and concerning for parents and police alike,” said Sgt. Kerry Shima, the operations NCO with the Northern Alberta ICE unit.
Suspect facing multiple charges
The suspect was arrested on July 7 after an investigation that began in June.
He is facing multiple charges including sexual interference, luring a child, various child pornography charges and extortion.
The accused was released from custody and is scheduled to appear in court in Morinville on Aug. 4.
ICE investigators believe there could be additional victims, and they are looking to speak to witnesses or anyone with information.
They have released a photo of the suspect and his vehicle, a 2011 Acura CSX. The man is known under the Snapchat usernames “islandsauce0129” and “monked.ruffy”.
“The reason we are releasing the vehicle, and are feeling necessary to release the information to the public is because he is Edmonton-based and traveled out to Morinville to commit these offences, and I think most people would agree that it is probable or possible he is doing it in other jurisdictions as well,” said Shima.
ICE says the Zebra Centre for Child Protection and Morinville RCMP both helped with the investigation.
Rise in online child luring this year
Online child luring has risen in the last six months, according to the Canadian Centre for Child Protection
Stephen Sauer, the director of Cybertip.ca at the CCCP, says there has been a 120 per cent increase in reports of online child luring since January.
“Most of the luring incidents we are dealing with through the tip line relate to extortion as a result of the sharing of a sexual image,” said Sauer. “So what we see is individuals connecting with youth or a child, and get them to share an image, and then they utilize that image to extort them for either money or further imagery or videos.
“Really it’s a pressure tactic.”
