Imesh Ratnayake has pleaded guilty to 11 counts of sex crimes related to luring, sexually abusing, and extorting eight girls near Edmonton, some as young as 11-years-old.
At the time, Ratnayake was also investigated by ALERT’s Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit.
On Tuesday at the Edmonton Court of King’s Bench, Ratnayake listened to a 28-page agreed statement of facts, read by Crown prosecutor Stephanie Morton, that detailed his unspeakable conduct.
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The Edmonton Journal:
She described how Ratnayake met the girls on Snapchat and offered to buy them disposable vape pens in exchange for sex acts. In one case, he met two of the girls in person — one of whom was 11 — and filmed them while they performed sex acts on him in his car.
Ratnayake then shared the videos with other girls, including their classmates, who he also propositioned. In the spring of 2022, one of the girl’s classmates texted her the video. The girl was “immediately humiliated,” Morton said. The clip was shared so widely in the school community that administrators caught wind, leading a counsellor to report the video to police.
Ratnayake — who lived with his parents in southwest Edmonton — was charged and subsequently investigated by ALERT’s Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit. He was granted bail but later had his release revoked. He has been in jail since December 2022.
Police initially said they found images on Ratnayake’s devices depicting “upwards of potentially 100” unidentified victims of child luring and sexual assault.
The charges Ratnayake admitted include extortion, making and transmitting child porn, child luring and two counts of sexual interference.
In another of the cases, Ratnayake asked to befriend a 13-year-old victim on Snapchat, which automatically deletes posts after a short time. He claimed to be 16 years old when he was in fact 20. He asked her for naked pictures, and the girl agreed. Ratnayake then took screenshots of the images and told the girl he would share them if she didn’t send more.
Ratnayake also sent the victim the video he took of the girls in the car, who the victim recognized as classmates. He threatened to rape her if she didn’t agree to his demands, including sending him the names of classmates. She relented and sent him the usernames of six or seven girls aged 13-15 before blocking his username.
In some cases, girls would block Ratnayake’s username, only for him to message again from another handle.
David Phillips, Ratnayake’s lawyer, told Justice James Neilson he is seeking two expert reports on his client before sentencing later this fall. Sentencing has been scheduled for Nov. 15.
Ratnayake’s guilty plea frees up seven weeks of court time originally set aside for the trial.
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