Online ‘Pedophile Hunters’ Told to Join Police Force

Most police forces are not so friendly with pedophile hunters, but this might be an answer to a rapidly growing problem

© Rolf Kremming / Global Look Press

Members of vigilante ‘pedophile hunter’ groups could be made special constables to help officers in their online search for child sex groomers, a police and crime commissioner has suggested.

Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent, Jeff Cuthbert, told BBC Wales that the groups, which track down and confront groomers then post the video on social media, were “intent on playing what they see as their part,” and saying they had secured many convictions.

“What we don’t know is how many potential perpetrators have got away with it because it’s not been done properly, or walked away because it’s not stood up in court, so it’s a question of balance,” he said.

“I would encourage members of these groups to become special constables or police volunteers so as to mediate that risk and to ensure that they have the right training and skills.”

“We need to find a way to ensure that this type of activity is carried out as safely as possible, with appropriate focus on minimizing the risks to the volunteers and the subjects of their activity, while maximizing the chance of getting a conviction,” he added.

“Working within the policing framework, with their assistance and support is the best way forward.”

The former head of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Agency, Jim Gamble, described the growing number of child sexual exploitation cases as a “tsunami” and “almost overwhelming.”

“I doubt there are more than 30 officers across the UK who are actually online at this very moment masquerading undercover … They simply haven’t got the resources to meet this head on, or to even create an active and meaningful deterrent,” he told the BBC.

Gamble called for 1,500 volunteers to be recruited.

“I’d like to see the government engage in a sensible conversation about how we can empower and educate ordinary citizens across the UK by giving them the opportunity to sign up to a special digital detectives program.”

Cuthbert’s force has distanced itself from his comments, making it clear that investigations are the work of warranted officers.

“Cases involving child sex abuse are extremely serious,” Detective Superintendent Leanne Brustad, head of public protection for Gwent Police, told the Times.

“We understand the desire to protect children, but any member of the public who has information about child sexual abuse, online or otherwise, should get in contact with the police.”

After violence broke out during a sting operation by vigilante group The Hunted One in Kent in April, the National Police Chiefs Council issued guidance to forces that they should discourage vigilantism.

The Home Office has also condemned such groups.

“The issues of child protection understandably matters greatly to people, but they should allow the police and law enforcement agencies to do their vital work by not taking the law into their own hands,” a spokesperson told the Daily Mail.

Canada has Lots of Creeps - Today's Perverts and Pedophiles List

Voyeur teacher convicted of child porn after videoing student - Ontario
2 minors in Vancouver Whitecaps program charged with CSA - B.C.
Child porn charges added to voyeurism of 'Canada Creep' - Alberta
Taekwondo instructor get 10 years for child sexual assaults - Manitoba
Child porn charges against Annapolis Valley man - Nova Scotia
Child luring and child porn charges against 26 y/o man - Saskatchewan

Teacher who filmed student changing convicted of child pornography

Teacher hid camera inside backpack that was placed inside a changeroom at the school

By Andrew Lupton, CBC News 

A London, Ontario, Canada teacher who used a hidden camera to secretly record video of a 16-year-old student changing has been found guilty on two counts of child pornography.

Jamie Gardiner, 39, pleaded guilty in May to 16 counts of voyeurism for taping co-workers undressing in the school's changeroom. The camera was hidden inside a backpack with a thumb-sized hole cut in its fabric to capture the images. 

Gardiner had pleaded not guilty to two counts of making and possessing child pornography, charges that were laid in connection with one victim, a 16-year-old co-op student. 

On Friday, Ontario Superior Court Justice Marc Garson ruled that Gardiner's taping of the young woman naked from the waist down met the legal threshold for child pornography because, among other reasons, the video was made "for the sexual gratification of the defendant."

Teacher had a large recorded collection 

Justice Garson also said the videos formed part of a larger collection of surreptitiously gathered videos and images, evidence he said strengthened the child pornography convictions. Changeroom images from the camera were also found on computers owned by Gardiner. 

"This is precisely the type of harm this section of the Criminal Code was designed to protect," Garson said. 

Gardiner, a special education teacher, was fired by the Thames Valley School Board shortly after the videos came to light in 2015. A sentencing date has been set for July with victim impact statements to be read at a different time.

Child pornography convictions carry a mandatory minimum one-year jail sentence.

Vancouver Whitecaps say 2 minors charged with sexual assault after alleged 'serious incident' at their facility

Team says two people have been suspended after incident at training facility

CBC News 

Whitecaps FC says the alleged incident was "in clear contravention of the club’s code of conduct.”

The Vancouver Whitecaps soccer team says two minors in their residency program have been charged with sexual assault after an alleged "serious incident" at their Burnaby training facility last week.

In a statement, the club said it involved male players and "was in clear contravention of the club's code of conduct."

Two players have been suspended indefinitely.

"The matter was referred to the RCMP," the statement read. "The safety and well being of our players is our top priority and we have been cooperating fully with the RCMP investigation."

Burnaby RCMP have not immediately responded to a request for comment.

Child porn charges brought against man arrested for 'CanadaCreep' Twitter videos

Jeffrey Williamson, 42, was re-arrested Friday, 1 day after being released on $2K bail

By Dave Dormer, CBC News 

Calgary, Alberta - The man facing voyeur charges relating to a suspended Twitter account is now facing additional charges of possession of child pornography and accessing child pornography.

Jeffrey Williamson, (far left) 42, was re-arrested Friday, one day after being released on $2,000 bail after being charged with voyeurism and distributing voyeuristic material in relation to three separate incidents.

Police allege Williamson was behind the now suspended "CanadaCreep" Twitter account, which posted surreptitious videos of women walking in downtown Calgary over a period of years, amassing roughly 17,000 followers.

Some of the posts included videos filmed up women's skirts, and it's those videos that prompted the voyeurism charges.

Hundreds of other posts included photos or video that police described as "extremely disturbing" but not necessarily criminal.

Numerous electronic devices were seized during the initial arrest and police said evidence of child porn was discovered once investigators began going through multiple terabytes of data found on them.

Police earlier said they expected to lay additional charges against Williamson.

He is scheduled to appear in court next on June 19.

10-year sentence for Winnipeg taekwondo instructor charged with sex assault

King Yeung pleaded guilty to sexual interference, sexual exploitation charges in December

By Holly Caruk, CBC News 

A Winnipeg taekwondo instructor who pleaded guilty to charges related to sexually assaulting three of his former students has been sentenced to 10 years behind bars.

In May 2016, King Yeung was charged with child abuse, sexual exploitation and other offences related to incidents that took place between 1998 and 2012.

Charges were laid against Yeung on May 4 and May 9 of last year, when two individuals came forward saying Yeung inappropriately touched them and sexually assaulted them while they were students at Kang's Academy, where Yeung was the chief instructor.

A third person came forward to police later that month, saying they were also sexually assaulted on multiple occasions by Yeung.

All of the victims were under the age of 16 at the time of the offences.

In December, Yeung entered guilty pleas to charges of sexual interference and sexual exploitation.

His lawyer, Matt Gould, said at the time that Yeung wanted to spare the complainants from a lengthy trial and to have the matter resolved quickly.

One of his victims who attended the sentencing said she forgives Yeung, but didn't want to comment on the sentence.

"I'm no longer a victim, I am a survivor," she said. "I want to thank the police and the Crown for their incredible work and support over the last year."

Gould said Thursday that the sentence was severe.

"For Mr. Yeung sitting in that courtroom, it's the realization that the sentence being handed down is a decade. It's a huge portion at any measure. It's a significant and severe sentence and it's something that he has to live with and that he's accepted,"

Gould said Yeung would not even have a conversation about the possibility of an appeal after the sentencing.

"His intention is to take the time that he will be serving and use that in the most productive way possible, continue on with his treatment, continue with his therapy."

Police initially charged Yeung in May of 2016 for offences that took place between 2009 and 2012 and while he was in custody, a second victim came forward saying they were also inappropriately touched and sexually assaulted by Yeung over a period from 1998 to 2004.

The third person told police they were assaulted by Yeung between 2001 and 2005.

Yeung will serve 10 years, less 612 days he's already spent in jail. He was given 4½ years for each of two victims, plus one year for a third victim.

Yeung will also have to provide a sample of his DNA and be registered as a sex offender for the remainder of his life. He is also prohibited from contacting any of the victims, or attending a public place where anyone under the age of 18 is likely to be, including schools, parks, or community centres, without supervision.

Wilmot man facing child pornography

and firearms charges

WILMOT, NS – A Wilmot man will appear in Annapolis Royal provincial court in July to answer to child pornography and weapons charges.

With assistance from the RCMP Technological Crime Unit and Annapolis and Kingston RCMP Detachments, the RCMP Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) Unit searched a home in Wilmot on June 8. David Earl Attree was arrested without incident following the search.

As a result, Attree has been charged with making child pornography available, possession of child pornography, and two counts of unsafe Storage of a firearm. He was brought before a judge, released on strict conditions and will appear in Annapolis Royal provincial court on July 24.


Be a voice for children

In Nova Scotia, it is mandatory for citizens to report suspected child pornography. This means that anyone who encounters child pornography material or recordings must report it to the police. Failing to report suspicious activity and materials could result in penalties similar to failure to report child abuse set out in the Children and Family Services Act. 

The RCMP encourages citizens to be a voice for children who are victims of sexual exploitation by reporting any suspected offences to your local police or by using Canada’s National tip line for reporting online sexual exploitation of children at www.cybertip.ca.

Lloydminster man accused of

online child luring

Man also charged with sharing sexually explicit material online

CBC News

RCMP have charged a man in Lloydminster, Sask., with child pornography offences.

The 26-year-old man is suspected of having lured a child under the age of 16 and making explicit material available to a child under 16, plus breach of a recognizance.

The RCMP's Saskatchewan internet child exploitation unit (ICE) acted on a complaint received in early April about someone having sexually explicit conversations with a 14-year-old girl over a popular social media site.

"The investigation identified a residence in Lloydminster where the activity had occurred," according to an RCMP press release issued on Thursday.

Police arrested the man at his home on Wednesday.


The man made his first court appearance in provincial court in Lloydminster on Thursday and will be held in custody until June 22.

CAIR Pedophile Sentenced to Two Years in Prison

Sexual predators can now be officially added to CAIR’s convicted fail list

Joe Kaufman 

It took well over a year, but the verdict is finally in. Ahmad Saleem, the former head of the Orlando, Florida office for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is headed to prison.

On the night of May 20, 2015, Ahmad Abrar Saleem was arrested in Clermont, Florida, a short distance from his Orlando home. He was charged with “use of computer to seduce/solicit/entice a child to commit sex act” and “travel to seduce, solicit, lure a child to commit sex act.”

Saleem was intending to meet the twelve-year-old girl he had been chatting with online, but instead, Saleem met Sheriff’s deputies waiting for him and 21 others in a child sex sting operation. He was detained at 9:35 pm and booked at one-in-the-morning.

This event surely had erased much happier times for Saleem. It was only a few months earlier that he had met with his fellow CAIR leaders to discuss organizational strategy.

A photo taken in February 2015 shows a grinning Saleem posing alongside CAIR-Florida Executive Director Hassan Shibly, CAIR-Florida CEO and Regional Operations Director Nezar Hamze, CAIR-Florida Immigration/Asylum Attorney Floyd Huntz, CAIR-Florida Research & Special Projects Coordinator Muazz Hassan, and then-CAIR-Florida Communications Coordinator Ali Akin Kurnaz. Palm trees and the ocean fill the idyllic scenery behind them.

Then, in March 2015, Saleem joined Kurnaz for a press conference to announce CAIR’s plan to initiate a $30 million lawsuit against the FBI over the death of Boston Marathon bomber associate, Ibragim Todashev.

During questioning from the FBI, Todashev admitted to his and Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s involvement in a triple murder that took place in Waltham, Massachusetts on September 11, 2011, well over a year prior to the Boston bombing. The three victims, who were all Jewish, had their throats so violently slashed that they were nearly decapitated.

According to witness reports, following his confession, Todashev, a former mixed martial artist, became enraged and hurled a coffee table at the FBI agent conducting the interview, giving the agent a gash on his head which he would receive stitches for. Todashev then allegedly lunged at the agent with a metal pole, to which the agent responded by opening fire on him. Todashev, once again, attempted to attack, before dying with six shots to the torso and one to the head.

Saleem and CAIR, on the other hand, described Todashev’s ending as a “wrongful death,” employing CAIR’s time-honored strategy of disregarding facts while spinning Muslim terrorists into victims. Given CAIR’s extremist history, how could anyone consider anything the group says to be honest and truthful?

CAIR is widely known as a group that has deep ties to the terrorist organization Hamas. The former head of Hamas and current spokesman for Hamas, Mousa Abu Marzook, had a hand in CAIR’s founding in 1994; CAIR has been named by the United States government as a party to Hamas financing; and different officials from CAIR, who have had involvement with Hamas (as well as other terror groups), have been convicted in and/or deported from the US.

CAIR’s Florida chapter does little to distinguish itself from its DC-based parent. In August 2010, CAIR-Florida Executive Director Hassan Shibly, who has denied that Hezbollah is a terrorist group, wrote, “Israel and its supporters are enemies of God...” In July 2014, CAIR-Florida co-sponsored a pro-Hamas rally in Downtown Miami, where rally goers shouted, “We are Hamas” and “Let’s go Hamas.” Following the rally, the event organizer, Sofian Zakkout, wrote, “Thank God, every day we conquer the American Jews like our conquests over the Jews of Israel!”

But none of this is of any practical use to Ahmad Saleem now. If he wishes to defend violence or terror or curse Israel or Jews, he will have to do so from behind bars. On December 1, 2016, a judge found Saleem guilty of “Child Abuse.” He was sentenced to two years in a state prison.

At the end of the two years, Saleem will be responsible for $36,500 in incarceration costs and another $1000 in fines and fees.

Following his stay, he may have an issue finding a job as a ‘sexual offender.’ He probably will not be able to rely on his parents, as both their jobs deal with youth, his father being a pediatrician and his mother being a school teacher. And it is doubtful his Psychology degree from UCF will help, except to demonstrate that he was more suited as a patient than a student.

Also, his job at the Orlando office of CAIR has been taken up by Rasha Mubarak, a past organizer of anti-Semitic, anti-Israel demonstrations. For CAIR to bring back a convicted pedophile would certainly be viewed as a lot worse than the fact that they hired him in the first place.

However, Ahmad Saleem’s predicament did and does hurt CAIR. While some people are willing to overlook CAIR’s association with international terrorism and even defend it, no one wishes to be associated with the stigma of sexual predation and deviancy.

Another Orlando CAIR representative who hurt the group this year was CAIR-Florida’s Orlando Outreach Coordinator, Ruanne Zein. In May, Zein posted onto her Facebook page an offensive Holocaust joke depicting a smiling Adolf Hitler with a sandwich in front of him along with the caption, “The best Kosher deli sandwiches are made in the Reichstag. I love the Jews!”

As a result of this author’s exposing Zein’s posting, she is no longer a staff member at CAIR. The difference between her and Saleem, though, is that she gets to go home, and Saleem gets maybe a phone call and visiting hours.

Saleem’s conviction is yet another example of CAIR’s disreputable track record of hiring controversial figures who would later serve jail terms, usually for offenses related to terror and violence.

Sexual predation can now officially be added to the list of sordid activities coming from CAIR representatives.

Beila Rabinowitz, Director of Militant Islam Monitor, contributed to this report.

Former B.C. Sheriff Faces Charges After Another Vigilante Sting Targeting Online Predators

This is the second story in a week of vigilante groups confronting an online child sex predator in British Columbia. Both were law enforcement officers. The emergence of vigilante groups came about as a response to the lack of enforcement by police. 

In Canada, as elsewhere, protection of children from predators is not a priority. There is little, if any, budget for police forces to specifically target child sex abusers. Child sex abuse is far and away the worst crime committed in Canada and the US, but governments and police don't seem to be aware of that.



The Canadian Press

A growing trend of vigilante stings has resulted in charges against a former deputy sheriff in British Columbia just days after a Mountie faced similar allegations.

The B.C. Criminal Justice Branch announced Tuesday that Kevin Johnston, who worked in Kamloops, has been charged with three counts of communicating with an underage person for a sexual offence and one count of invitation to sexual touching.

An unnamed RCMP officer in Surrey was arrested last week and is being investigated for child luring and sexual exploitation after the vigilante group Creep Catchers released video that it claimed was a confrontation with a man who thought he was meeting an underage girl.

Justice branch spokesman Dan McLaughlin confirmed that both men came to the attention of police through separate vigilante groups.

“There are organizations that are out there providing opportunities for people to communicate with people they believe to be underage females in these instances and they seem to have been caught by those organizations.”

None of the allegations against the two men has been proven in court.

In the latest allegations, media reports said a group called Creep Hunters in Kelowna posted a video on Facebook that the group said showed a confrontation with Johnston after he allegedly tried to initiate a relationship with an underage girl.

The group’s website was taken down on Tuesday, but some of the video was still available and had been shared on Facebook.

In British Columbia, Crown prosecutors decide if charges should be laid after police present them with a file of evidence.

McLaughlin said this case is no different in that police will investigate and assess the strength of the case.

“All viable defences are considered when we’re assessing the materials that are provided to us,” he said. “Part of that process would be considering whether there are charter issues that are raised by the manner in which the evidence was collected.”

By charter issues, he is referring to Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms

McLaughlin said if Crown lawyers are not satisfied of a substantial likelihood of conviction, charges won’t proceed, the same as in any other case.

He couldn’t say if the criminal justice branch would reconsider how it evaluates evidence in light of the recent vigilante stings.

“If there’s an area that we think is lacking in our policies then we take steps to do that,” he said. “As long as we’re being provided with evidence which we feel meets that standards that we must apply … then we’ll deal with the evidence that investigative agencies provide to us.”

The branch said Johnston is no longer employed as a court sheriff. His next court appearance is set for Oct. 20.

Surrey Mountie

The unnamed Mountie allegedly confronted by a vigilante group has been suspended from the force. The criminal justice branch said it is assessing possible charges against the officer, and his name won’t be released until he is officially charged.

RCMP’s assistant commissioner Brenda Butterworth-Carr told reporters last week that police were investigating the man on allegations of child luring and sexual exploitation.

She said the allegations are egregious and not in keeping with what the RCMP expects of its employees.

The officer’s next court appearance is set for Oct. 19.

American Accused of Sending Nude Photos to Mountie, Thinking She was 12

Nova Scotia officer helps ID Missouri man accused of sexual misconduct with a child

By Blair Rhodes, CBC News 


A St. Peters, Mo., man is facing a total of eight charges after he allegedly sent nude pictures and videos of himself to an RCMP officer posing as a 12-year-old girl. (Igor Stevanovic/Shutterstock)

A Nova Scotia undercover RCMP officer was giving a presentation about the problem of online sexual predators in May 2015, when she decided to do a simple demonstration.

She used her phone to log onto a chat site popular with children, and pretended to be a 12-year-old girl.

"My post simply said: 'This site is weird, LOL. But I'm bored' and I just said 'hit me up,'" said the officer, who CBC News is not identifying due to her undercover work.

The results were alarming. During the next 50 minutes, her phone buzzed with replies to her post — 132 in all.

"I opened up the first 10 — five of the 10 were just simply explicit photos."

The demonstration would eventually lead to eight charges of sexual misconduct involving a child younger than 15 being laid against a man living 2,900 kilometres away in St. Peters, Mo., for sending nude photos of himself to the Nova Scotia officer. 

The officer is a member of the provincial internet child exploitation or ICE unit. She spoke to CBC News recently about her work in general, and about this case in particular.

'He was so insistent'

She ultimately decided to pursue one of the explicit hits.

"He sent me a bunch of photos and videos, without me replying, and then sent me a couple of messages. Because I felt he was so insistent, I engaged with him," the officer said.

"I chatted with him for a while, and was able to gain some information about him and his whereabouts and his career and what he does for a living, how old he was, stuff like that."

The officer was able to obtain a warrant and get information about the man's internet activity. She assembled what she'd found and sent if off to the main ICE unit in Ottawa, which in turn forwarded the material to American authorities.

Those authorities declined to speak to CBC News about the case because it is still before the courts.

'It's scary'

The Missouri case is a bit unusual in that the offender is not in Nova Scotia. So far this year, the Nova Scotia ICE unit has handled 70 cases of child pornography in the province and 26 cases of child luring. 

"It's scary, I definitely wouldn't want to be a teenager in today's world," the officer said.

Const. Vicki Colford is another member of the provincial ICE unit. In her 18 months with the unit, she said she's seen a steady increase in cases.

"Every file is like a puzzle," Colford said. "So you have to work your way through it and see how you can get the information and how you can help solve that crime."

Tracking suspects

When officers find internet activity that appears suspicious, they try to learn enough to obtain a warrant to get an internet address and other information from the service provider. Armed with that information, police can then track a suspect to their home and monitor their computer activity until they have enough evidence to get an arrest warrant.

Colford advises parents to pay attention to who their children are communicating with online. If a child doesn't know the person in real life, then they likely shouldn't be talking to them online. 

"I always like to tell kids, my kids included, 'I would never drop you off in a downtown of a city and say go meet some friends and I'll pick you up in a few hours,'" Colford said.

"But it seems like parents do that with the internet, and it's the same thing really."

Child-Luring - It's Happening Everywhere

Child luring is performed mostly by men and for the express purpose of having sex with an underage child

I wrote 'mostly by men' because it is certainly not exclusive of women. There have been at least a few cases where women will actually lure a child for the express purpose of being raped by her partner.

Pennsylvania Pick-up

State police in Lancaster County are seeking a man accused of attempted child luring in Leacock Township last week.

child-luring-suspect

(Right) A drawing of the man sought for attempted child luring in Lancaster County, by Pennsylvania State Police

Police said the man asked a 14-year-old girl to get into his gray sedan around 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 1. The man fled the scene at Yost and Tabor roads when the girl did not get in the car, police said.

The man is described as 25 to 30 years old, with shaved or short hair, and a reddish brown beard.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact state police in Lancaster at 717-299-7650.

Virginian in Jail in British Columbia

Police in Abbotsford, B.C., have arrested a 33-year-old Virginia man who met a 13-year-old girl on social media, started texting with her, then spent the night with her in a hotel room last weekend.

Joshua Michael Napoli, of Newport News, Virginia, is charged with sexual assault against a child, child luring, and sexual interference.

Napoli first met the Abbotsford girl over social media in July 2015, said Abbotsford police.

"Numerous texts were sent back and forth and ultimately a plan was hatched where the 33-year-old would make his way into British Columbia," said Const. Ian MacDonald.

Napoli rented a hotel room in Abbotsford on Saturday. The girl met him there, and stayed until the next day, but left the hotel and contacted her guardian, who contacted police.

Investigators arrested Napoli outside the hotel room on Sunday.

"This incident serves as a reminder for all parents to be aware of the online activities of their children," said MacDonald.


Victoria Police also Charge Man for Luring

CTV Vancouver Island 

A Victoria man accused of attempting to lure underage girls online is facing 13 related charges, prompting police to ask any other possible victims to come forward.

Police said parents of some of the alleged victims contacted them with information that led to the charges. Those victims include five youths between the ages of 12 to 17.

Aaron Craig, 28, faces three counts of luring a child under the age of 14, two counts of luring a child under the age of 18, four counts of communicating or obtaining sexual services of a person under the age of 18 and two counts of uttering threats, according to Victoria police.

He was arrested Friday and remains in custody.

Craig was also charged with three counts of breach of probation because he was specifically prohibited from contacting young girls online due to “previous similar incidents,” police said.

None of the children were physically harmed.

Police believe there could be other victimized youth, and are asking parents to check in with their kids to find out.

“If you discover that someone has been inappropriately contacting your kids online, consider reporting to your local police or through cybertip.ca,” Det. Sgt. Kristi Ross said in a statement.

Police are also urging parents to discuss online safety with their children, especially when it comes to geo-tagging options that can give away a person’s location based on where they post to social media.