VANCOUVER – A 59-year-old Maple Ridge man has been arrested for trying to lure a 13-year-old girl online.
The BC Integrated Child Exploitation (BC ICE) unit started an investigation in August when a covert police investigator, posing as a 13-year-old girl, was approached online by the Maple Ridge resident, David Anderson.
Anderson said he was a teenage boy and after indicating an interest in meeting the girl, even went on to arrange a date and time.
He was arrested on Sept. 4 at his home after surveillance conducted by the Integrated Sexual Predator Observation Team (ISPOT).
Anderson is now facing two counts of luring a child online. He is also charged with breach of probation from a previous luring incident where the court imposed conditions that included no Internet access or contact with any female child under the age of 16 unless in the company of a responsible adult.
“This is just one of the many successful proactive investigations conducted by the BC ICE unit and our partner units,” said Inspector Rick Greenwood of BC ICE. “Parents should remain vigilant about who their children are chatting with online. The best way to protect your children is to be informed and involved in their online lives.”
The BC Integrated Child Exploitation unit encourages everyone to report any suspicious online activity to Cybertip.ca. Educational resources about how to prevent becoming a victim of online child exploitation are readily available at sites such as protectchildren.ca,thedoorthatnotslocked.ca and kidsintheknow.ca.
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