Edmonton man facing 18 new charges of sexually assaulting, luring children
Posted December 20, 2022 4:31 pm.
An Edmonton man faces 18 additional charges following an investigation by the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team’s (ALERT) Internet Child Exploitation Unit (ICE) into child luring and child pornography near Morinville, Alta.
In July, ALERT charged a 21-year-old from Edmonton that allegedly sexually assaulted at least six young girls after allegedly meeting them online and then luring them into performing sexual acts.
At the time, ALERT said he met the children on Snapchat and police added in some cases, he managed to lure the girls by gaining access to their contacts, sometimes through extortion.
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Following the initial charges, he was released and was due to appear in court on Aug. 4.
Police continued to investigate the activities of the 21-year-old, and believe there may be upwards of 100 victims.
“The investigation … has been evolving since his first arrest last summer. ICE Forensic Technicians, our criminal analyst and investigators have discovered thousands of videos and images that depict upwards of potentially 100 additional, unidentified victims of child luring and sexual assault,” said Sgt. Kerry Shima, ICE.
“As a result of the ongoing investigation, Mr. Ratnayake was arrested for offenses he is alleged to have committed against previously identified children in the Morinville area in the fall of 2021. We want parents in the Edmonton Region to discuss this case with their children to determine if they communicated or met with Mr. Ratnayake.”
ALERT says on Dec. 9, they re-arrested the 21-year-old and he is facing 18 new charges including, sexual assault, sexual interference, luring, making child pornography, among other charges.
It is believed while he used Snapchat, he used multiple profiles, which include names like “islandsauce0129”, “monked.ruffy” or by his pseudonym Matt Wintoni or “mattwintoni”.
ALERT is looking to identify any potential victims, and are asking if anyone has any information, to contact their local police department, Edmonton Police or Crime Stoppers.
