A joint undercover operation between Alberta RCMP and Calgary members of the ALERT Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) team has led to child luring charges against former Calgary politician Terry Lo.
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A teenage girl reported a sexual assault to Airdrie RCMP on Sept. 14.
“The underage girl had met the suspect through social media, where he identified himself as a 34-year-old man named ‘George’,” RCMP said in a statement.
Police said the teen and ‘George’ started messaging each other on a cellphone app and arranged to meet in Airdrie, “where the offences occurred.”
An undercover operation followed, after which investigators identified the suspect as Terrence Lo, 45. He was arrested outside an Airdrie restaurant on Wednesday, Sept. 21.
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Lo faces charges including child luring, sexual assault, sexual interference, abduction and resist arrest.
Lo was released after a judicial interim hearing. He must follow conditions including no communication with any child under 18 years of age. He’s set to appear in Airdrie Provincial Court on Oct. 6.
Lo resigned as the Alberta Party candidate in Calgary-Glenmore in May 2015 for what he described as an “inappropriate” joke he posted online. The joke–which was tweeted by account @adamyorkii and involves a priest, rabbi, and a little boy–has been criticized for being offensive to both Catholic and Jewish religions.
In response to the news Lo faces charges, the Alberta Party released a statement on Wednesday, saying: “We have faith in our legal system and that justice will be served.”
Airdrie is located about 30 kilometres north of Calgary.
With files from Nancy Hixt