Additional Charges in Attempted Online Luring
The Calgary Police Service has laid additional charges against a man in relation to the attempted online luring of a young teen.
In October 2013, the man was charged following a two-month investigation by the CPS Vice Unit. The investigation was launched when a concerned parent contacted police after discovering sexually exploitive conversations on her 13-year-old daughter’s Facebook account.
The conversations included requests that the victim send naked photographs of herself and meet to perform various sexual acts in exchange for money.
Investigators believe the man posed as a teenage girl and utilized a Facebook account under the profile name “Nikki Wright” in order to commit the offences.
Subsequent investigation revealed a second victim, a 14-year-old girl, had also been befriended by the accused utilizing the Facebook profile name “Nikki Wright.”
Similar to the first investigation, it is alleged the accused attempted to lure the teenage girl via the internet into performing sexual services in exchange for money.
Police allege the rightful owner of the Nikki Wright Facebook account was not involved in the incidents and that the account had been hacked by the accused.
Bojan AMBRUS, 33, of Calgary, has now been additionally charged with the following offences. The charges include possessing child pornography, accessing child pornography, make or counsel to make child pornography, luring a person under the age of 18 by means of telecommunication, luring a person under the age of 16 by means of telecommunication, attempt to procure a person into prostitution, communicate for the purpose of obtaining for consideration the sexual services of a person under 18, personation with intent to gain advantage, mischief in relation to the lawful use of data, unauthorized use of a computer system and unauthorized use of a computer system with intent to commit mischief in relation to data.
AMBRUS remains in custody and his next court appearance is scheduled for Friday, March 7, 2014.
The Service encourages anyone involved in an online luring incident to call police, or report it anonymously through cybertip.ca or Crime Stoppers:
TALK: 1-800-222-8477
TYPE: tttTIPS.com
TEXT: tttTIPS to 274637
Media availability notice to follow.
Signs your teen may be experiencing side-effects of online exploitation:
- Sad or crying frequently
- Displays of anger
- Loss of appetite
- Loss of interest in activities, hobbies or sports
- Not wanting to attend school
- A sudden change in their activity level on their own social media platforms
Important ongoing discussions to have with your teen about online contact with others:
- Explain that adults should not be attempting to become “friends” with or give sexual attention to teenagers. Let them know this type of boundary-breaking behaviour demonstrates the adult is using poor judgment, making it unsafe to interact with them.
- Discuss that it is illegal to threaten someone online or offline. Explain that threats are often used in an attempt to control the situation and get youth to comply with demands of a sexual nature. If someone threatens her/him, s/he needs to tell a safe adult (whether it be you, a teacher, a counsellor, etc.).
- Explain that there is no need or urgency to respond to any messages. Teach her/him not to respond to messages that make her/him feel uncomfortable.
- Discuss how sharing personal issues or situations online with the wrong person could leave someone open to manipulation and mistreatment.
- Use real life stories from the media to discuss situations that have happened to teens. Seize the opportunity to openly talk about these stories with your teen, as well as the risks, and discuss what could have been done differently. Your child is less likely to become defensive as the scenario is not about her/him personally. At the same time, it opens the door for your child to share a similar situation or concern with regard to her/him or one of her/his peers.
- Teach your adolescent how to get out of unwanted conversations and/or relationships. Some direct ways of getting out of uncomfortable situations include refusing to do something by saying “I don’t want to” or “no thanks” or discontinuing contact by not responding to messages, and deleting or blocking the person as a contact. Indirect ways of ending a conversation include making excuses such as “I have to go out with my family.” or blaming parents “my mom checks my computer randomly and would ground me.”
- Explain the importance of seeking your help without the fear of her/him getting into trouble and reinforce that it’s never too late to ask for help, even if they are embarrassed about what has happened.
For more information for teens or their parents on online exploitation, what to do and how to get through it, go to Cybertip.ca