Victoria Police are recommending 10 charges against two men after VicPD’s Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) division conducted two covert online investigations.
The first investigation began in June 2017, after West Shore RCMP received information on a potential child luring over the internet. While the victim was a West Shore resident, the suspect was found to be a 61-year-old male living in Esquimalt, so ICE took over the investigation.
Then, on November 14th, a team of officers from VicPD’s Special Victims Unit, Forensic Identification Section, Integrated Tech Crime Unit, and Patrol officers executed a search warrant in Esquimalt.
Following the search of the residence, police are recommending 8 charges against the suspect, including:
- Luring a child under 16 years old
- Luring a child under 14 years old
- Possession of child pornography
- Making child pornography
- Distribution of child pornography
- Making sexually explicit material available to a child
- Agreement or arrangement for sexual offence against a child
- Counselling an offence that is not committed (sexual interference)
According to police, the suspect was released on a promise to appear with multiple conditions.
The second investigation began on November 1st 2018, when ICE officers began a covert investigation into the activity of a 28 year-old man.
As the investigation unfolded, VicPD says it became clear that the man wanted to sexually abuse a child.
A week later, investigators set up a meeting with the suspect on November 8th. When he arrived to the meeting location in an apartment building, he was greeted by multiple officers and arrested.
He is facing one charge of luring a child under 16 years old.
After the arrest, police determined that the suspect had been living in Canada illegally since 2014. Investigators will be working with the Canadian Border Services Agency to determine his status.
For more information on how to protect your family, especially children, VicPD recommends visiting the Canadian Centre for Child Protection website.
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