Police say they were called to Robins Park in Nanaimo, BC, on June 29 after two city workers saw the mismatched couple talking together around 1:30 p.m. “Witnesses said the two were sitting very close to each other in the stands and from their interactions and body gestures it did not appear to be a father-daughter relationship,” the RCMP said in a statement issued Monday. After city workers noticed the man talking to the girl — who is 11 to 15 years old, police say — the workers called police. Then Maudish came to the park to talk to both the man and the girl.
“IT COULD END TERRIBLELY”
The young woman told police she met the man through a social media platform called V-sing, a karaoke app that allows people to share videos of themselves singing and chatting through a private messenger. The girl told police she thought the man was 25 years old and that they had been talking for about nine months, including daily FaceTime calls on her cell phone. The youth told police the pair were “nothing but good friends” and when police spoke to the man he said the same thing. However, while the man claimed the two were just friends, police say he “did not deny that his intentions could be considered sexual in nature.” The man also told police he had arrived in Nanaimo earlier that day after traveling from his home in the US Mid-West.
US PARTICIPATION
Mounties say there wasn’t enough evidence to arrest the man at the time, but he was ordered to leave the country. Police say Canada Border Security Agency was able to confirm that he had traveled back to the US later that day. “This investigation is being aggressively pursued by this detachment as well as the United States Department of Homeland Security,” said Const. Gary O’Brien of the Nanaimo RCMP. “Investigators would also like to acknowledge the witnesses who provided such timely information. If not for their insightful observations and phone call, this incident could have ended terribly for this young lady and her family,” he said. The police have also published several tips for keeping children safe online:
Try to engage them in conversation about their online activity Find out who your children’s online friends are Track which apps and websites they use and when Do not leave mobile phones, tablets or any electronic device in their bedrooms Tell your kids to keep their location settings private
More online safety tips can also be found on the Canadian Child Prevention Center website.
