A 55-year-old Toronto man, who worked at the Hospital for Sick Children, is facing charges after allegedly luring a minor.
Toronto police say their Internet Child Exploitation Unit launched an investigation into the alleged luring of a person under the age of 18 through telecommunications in October 2024.
Investigators allege a suspect communicated with a 15-year-old through social media and phone chat applications and made inappropriate comments toward them. The suspect also allegedly sent explicit images to the victim, police say.
On July 29, the Internet Child Exploitation Unit executed a search warrant in North York, near Don Mills Road and Highway 401.
As a result, several electronic devices and written documentation were seized.
Antonio Alvin Dela Cruz, 55, of Toronto, was also arrested and charged with five offences, including luring a person under 18 years of age.
The charges have not been tested in court.
He was scheduled to appear in bail court on July 29.
Accused worked in housekeeping: SickKids
In a message posted on its website on Thursday, SickKids said Dela Cruz was a staff member who worked in housekeeping.
The hospital noted that the accused was placed on leave immediately after they became aware of the charges, saying that he has since resigned from his role.
“There is currently no evidence linking the charges to the staff member’s role at SickKids,” it said.
The arrest comes two weeks after one of the hospital’s doctors was charged with accessing and possessing child sexual abuse and exploitation material. Police have said they have not found evidence that the alleged material is connected to the doctor’s practice.
Acknowledging that Thursday’s news is “deeply disturbing,” particularly given the recent criminal charges against one physician, SickKids said, to its knowledge, the two employees “did not know or work with one another.”
“TPS has indicated that there is no evidence linking the alleged criminal charges to the employees’ work at SickKids,” it noted.
Conduct ‘completely unacceptable’
Dr. Ronald Cohn, SickKids’ president and CEO, said the “conduct described in the charges is completely unacceptable and runs contrary to our core values.”
“It represents a profound breach of the trust that patients, families, staff and the public place in the people who work at SickKids. The safety and well-being of our patients, families, and staff is our highest priority, and we are committed to maintaining the trust that our community places in us,” he said.
The hospital went on to say that it has a “range of measures in place to help promote a safe environment,” notably pre-employment screening processes, policies and standards of conduct, and workplace safeguards and technology controls designed to detect and prevent inappropriate or illegal activity within its systems.
SickKids engaging experts after 2 employees charged
SickKids said in response to these recent events, they have engaged external experts to review current processes, controls, and safeguards preventing child harm.
“We recognize that even the strongest safeguards cannot prevent every instance of alleged criminal conduct. That is why we continuously maintain rigorous controls and strengthen them whenever possible,” the hospital said.
“We also plan to explore opportunities to strengthen our knowledge of child sexual abuse and exploitation through active engagement in programming provided by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection.”
SickKids is urging anyone with concerns or information relevant to this investigation to contact Toronto police.
Patients and families with questions about their care at SickKids are advised to contact SickKids’ Patient and Family Relations Department at patient.relations@sickkids.ca.
This child luring investigation is ongoing and anyone with further information is asked to contact Toronto police at 416-808-8500 or Crime Stoppers anonymously.
