A man from Neepawa, Man., is facing close to 90 charges after a lengthy investigation by the RCMP’s Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit.
Jamie Centeno, 26, was arrested Wednesday and has been charged with 88 offences, including luring a child, sexual assault, sexual exploitation of a child, and making child pornography.
Police said their investigation revealed that Centeno allegedly posed as a teen boy on Snapchat and asked girls as young as 11 to send him sexual photos, and in some cases, to meet him in person.
According to RCMP, Centeno had a previous arrest in 2018 for extortion, possessing child pornography and luring, and had been released with conditions to appear in Brandon Provincial Court.
He was re-arrested in April of 2021 at a traffic stop when police found he had breached conditions of his release, and the ICE unit’s subsequent investigation revealed he had been communicating “extensively” with young girls.
“We are very concerned there may be other victims,” said Cst. Gord Olson. “We are asking anyone with information to contact their local police department.”
Olson said Centeno is alleged to have used a number of usernames on Snapchat, including kingmac6675, itsjaaaay1, brandonnjay6493, jaimec044, privateaccn2021, neepawanoypi20, and jcntno2021.
“Unfortunately, we see children exploited every day. Children are vulnerable. We want to remind all caregivers to continually discuss online safety with their children as well as monitor their online activity to minimize their risk of being exploited,” said Olson.
Centeno is scheduled to appear in court in Brandon on Feb. 10.