WATCH: A B.C. soccer coach has been charged in the U.S. for allegedly attempting to meet a 12-year-old child for sex. Catherine Urquhart has the details of this developing story.
UPDATE (Jan.13, 2016): A former Surrey soccer coach has pleaded guilty to sex-related charges in a Seattle courtroom.
47-year-old Kuldip Singh Mahal was arrested last February in Burlington, Washington after setting up a meeting with what he thought was a 12-year-old girl.
Mahal could be sentenced to between 6.5 to 30 years behind bars.
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VANCOUVER – A 47-year-old man from B.C. has been arrested in Washington State for allegedly travelling there to seek sex with a 12-year-old girl.
Kuldip “Kelly” Singh Mahal, of Surrey, was arrested by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and charged with attempted enticement of a minor.
Investigators say he travelled from Surrey to Washington after allegedly answering a posting on the Vancouver Craigslist website. Little did he know, he was communicating with an undercover HSI special agent posing as a 12-year-old girl from northwest Washington.
Court documents allege Mahal sent multiple sexually explicit messages and photos of himself to the undercover special agent over a three-week period. He continued to do so after being told he was communicating with a 12-year-old girl. Investigators also state in the complaint that Mahal, in lengthy sexualized chats, repeatedly requested sexually explicit pictures from the “girl.”
Mahal, who works as a facilities manager for a Vancouver tech firm, and is a volunteer coach for an under-16 soccer team in Surrey, allegedly crossed the border at Blaine and headed towards the park in Burlington where he had agreed to meet the girl. He was arrested at the park.
“In three weeks’ time, the defendant went from responding to an online posting to traveling from Canada to Washington state to meet a minor for illicit sex,” said Brad Bench, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Seattle. “Fortunately, he was actually communicating with an undercover HSI special agent. Individuals who cross international borders to sexually abuse children, whether they are Americans traveling overseas or foreigners traveling to the U.S., are within HSI’s jurisdiction and will be held to account for their crimes.”
Martin Foden, Exec. Director of Surrey United Soccer, told reporters Wednesday that “Mr. Mahal has been suspended until further notice.”
He added that Mahal had passed a criminal check.
Enticement of a minor is punishable by a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years to a maximum of life in prison.
“Homeland Security Investigations agents work hard each day to keep our country, and in this case our children, safe from those who would do them harm,” said acting United States Attorney Annette L. Hayes. “I am grateful for their hard work and that it was in fact an undercover agent, and not a vulnerable young girl that was subjected to this defendant.”
The charges contained in the complaint are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Mahal has made his first appearance in the U.S. District Court in Seattle since being detained on Tuesday and is expected to remain in detention pending a hearing next Monday.
HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free tip line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.
-with files from Canadian Press
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