Editor's Note: In May 2017, The Canadian Press confirmed all charges in relation to the incident below were withdrawn against the suspect in November 2015. We have removed his name and photo from the story.”
A 57-year-old Toronto man is being accused of posing online as teenager in order to lure teenaged girls over social media.
Police announced a slew of child-pornography related charges against the suspect on Monday, after a months-long investigation.
Det. Const. Scott McQuoid told reporters at a news conference Monday the investigation began six months ago following a complaint.
“There was a complaint made, which we followed up on,” McQuoid said, though he couldn’t disclose where the complaint came from.
McQuoid said the suspect used a number of aliases to reach out to underage girls online. He listed the aliases and associated email addresses as follows:
- Abigail Davies; abbydavies429@gmail.com
- Danica Pines: danicapines@gmail.com
- Maria Moon: zippym97@gmail.com
- Natasha Z: natashamoo97@gmail.com
- Jim Victorry: jvictorry@gmail.com
- Ashton Gomes: ashtongomes98@gmail.com
“He used these email addresses to pose as a little girl to reach out to other teenaged girls,” McQuoid said.
Police said the suspect is believed to have contacted girls who live in Canada and other parts of the world. They believe there may be more victims.
The suspect was not known to police prior to the investigation, McQuoid said.
Following his arrest, police executed a search warrant at the suspect’s home on July 23.
“Generally in our search warrants we’re looking for electronic devices, computers, USB cards, DVDs, that sort of thing. In this case we found similar items such as that,” McQuoid said.
World Vision Canada confirmed the suspect once worked for them.
Following news of the arrest, the organization issued a statement calling the charges “very concerning.”
The charitable organization, which focuses on children, said it has launched an internal investigation following the charges against the suspect, who worked as a talent manager at the organization from 2006 to 2012.
“The protection of children is critical to World Vision Canada,” the organization said in its statement. “We have in place extensive child protection policies and procedures for all staff, board members, contractors and volunteers. All staff are required to have a criminal record check prior to joining the organization, as well as periodic searches thereafter.
“We also conduct additional and thorough reference checks. Beyond that, we have in place stringent policies and procedures that stipulate that staff or visitors are never to be alone with a child, along with clear protocols on the protection of photos and images of children.”
World Vision said it would not be commenting on the matter further as the charges are before the courts.
While he couldn’t say exactly which social media channels the suspect is believed to have used to reach out to the girls, McQuoid cautioned that parents should stay in the loop when it comes to who their kids are interacting with on social media.
“Any children who are using social media through the Internet on their computer should be monitored by their parents and their parents should have at least a knowledge of who it is they’re speaking to,” McQuoid told reporters. “Any friends that they do make, they should be aware that these people may not be who they represent themselves to be on the Internet.”
McQuoid said he couldn’t disclose the exact tactics police used to apprehend the suspect, but he said an undercover operation was not employed.
Police said Monday that the suspect is facing nine charges. The charges include possession of child pornography, accessing child pornography, making available child pornography, luring a child under 16 years and five counts of making child pornography.
He made a court appearance July 23.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-8500 or call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).
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