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Kingston father warns parents of online risks after receiving ‘upsetting’ message from alleged child predator

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Kingston father has warning for parents about social media
A father in Kingston wants parents to be vigilant online, after a troubling message was sent to him about his children – Nov 21, 2018

A father in the Kingston region wants to warn parents after receiving a troubling message from an alleged child predator. Kyle Roberts, 34, is speaking out after a worrying experience on Facebook. Roberts believes he was sent a Facebook message from a man arrested last week on several child pornography-related charges.

“The profile picture was from the eyebrows to the top of the head, and a message saying, ‘Hey your kids are cute, will you be my dad,'” says Roberts.

It was a scary realization for the father of four children. He received the message from a person with the username Rob Burns.

“It’s very upsetting and angering,” says the father. “My children mean everything to me right, probably my only fear in the world is something bad happening to my kids.”

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The man alleged to be behind the messages is 43-year-old, Robert John Burns. He was arrested and charged last week for a number of offences including making and possessing child pornography.

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Roberts is one of a number of people that claim they were sent similar messages from someone under the same username, some more worrisome than others.

“He was asking her to be his mom and then started getting inappropriate with the messages,” says Roberts. “He sent a picture of himself to her.”

Following his interaction, Roberts posted a warning on Facebook — it was shared more than 700 times. He says with children using Facebook — it’s important parents know what their kids are doing online.

“Be very vigilant, check their accounts,” says Roberts. “Make sure you’re aware of who they are interacting with because there are people that are looking to harm your children.”

This comes after Kingston police arrested three individuals for child pornography-related offences in the past two weeks including Robert John Burns.

Police allege Burns sent messages to one mother, then sent her daughter messages of a sexual nature. Investigators ask if you have received any of these Facebook messages to contact them immediately.

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