Australian man charged in Edmonton child luring case pleads not guilty

The man accused of flying from Australia to Edmonton to meet a 13-year-old girl for sex has entered a plea of not guilty.

Jiashu Weng, 22, has elected to be tried by judge and jury.

His trial dates are expected to be scheduled on May 12.

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READ MORE: Australian man faces child luring charges in Edmonton; mother finds texts ‘literally just in time’ 

The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) said the girl’s mother found online conversations between her daughter and the accused. She contacted Edmonton police, which resulted in the arrest of a man at an Edmonton hotel on Feb. 10.

“It was very clear what the intentions were,” Insp. Dave Dubnyk said.

Officers said the interaction started on a gaming application and then moved to other networks.

Weng was charged with luring a child under 14 years old, possession of child pornography and distributing child pornography.

With files from Global News