11-year-old Ontario YouTube video creator warns of online predators

Brady Lederman usually gets dozens of hits on his YouTube videos, but his post titled, “I CAUGHT THEM NAKED?!” has racked up tens of thousands.

The video features Lederman and his friends wearing bathing suits at a water park. He said once this video went viral, he became suspicious about who was viewing his content.

“There were a lot of people that were weirdly liking my videos and commenting really rude things,” said Lederman, who is from Bowmanville, Ont.

He then said he received a private message on Instagram, which he said was linked to his YouTube channel.

“They just approached me and said, ‘Hey, I like your videos.'”

Lederman said the messages subsequently became sexual in nature.

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“I realized it wasn’t just a subscriber,” he said.

“It was somebody trying to approach me.”

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He is now advising anyone, especially children, with social media accounts to think before they post since he said his video drew harassment he had never received before.

“Never publish videos that can come back to you in a bad way,” said Lederman.

“It was terrifying for me,” said his mother, Leslie Hughes.

Hughes runs her own social media business and said she usually monitors everything Lederman posts.

“I did not know that this video in particular was going up with that kind of content in it,” she said.

Hughes said she spoke with her son about the situation and reported the stranger to Durham Regional Police, who say the RCMP are now looking into the incident. The RCMP have taken over the investigation since officers believe the person is from overseas.

Durham Regional Police Const. George Tudos encourages everyone to block harassing users and, if they persist, to report them.

“You never really know who you are speaking to,” he said.

“Make sure you do confirm … it is someone that’s known to you before exchanging any information.”

Meanwhile, Lederman said he’ll continue to make videos for his channel, but added this experience has taught him a valuable lesson.