Investigators working to identify victims after Edmonton man charged with child luring

UPDATE: A stay of proceedings was entered on the seven charges initially faced by Aarron Kowalchuk on Oct. 23, 2023.  However, the stay was lifted and two additional charges were later laid against Kowalchuk after an additional victim was identified, ALERT said in a statement. 

Investigators are trying to identify alleged victims of a 34-year-old Edmonton man accused of luring and sexually abusing children.

Aarron Kowalchuk was arrested on June 20 by the ALERT Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit, with assistance from the Edmonton Police Service.

Kowalchuk is facing seven charges, including child luring, arrangement of a sexual offence against a child, making sexually explicit material available to a child, making child pornography and possession of a prohibited device.

Investigators say the accused was sending children sexually explicit material and attempting to lure them into meeting with him for sex.

A forensic analysis of his seized phone and other computer devices uncovered child sexual exploitation materials and incriminating online chat logs, ICE said in a news release. 

During a news conference Thursday, Sgt. Kerry Shima — acting unit commander of the northern Alberta ICE unit — said the accused targeted young girls over various social media platforms.

One victim, aged 15, has been identified and police expect to find more, Shima said.

After reviewing evidence recovered from the accused's digital devices, investigators are concerned the abuse became physical.

The evidence suggests that at least two children — ages nine and 13 — were sexually assaulted. Investigators have been unable to identify the children.

"The indication from the examination of the device is that there may be two children that we have yet to identify who have had communication," Shima said. "And, in the worst-case scenario, have met with him." 

Shima said messages recovered by investigators suggest the parents of the 13-year-old intervened and stopped their child from communicating with the accused.

"The veracity of that is still unknown, but it seems logical to us that there may be parents out there who don't know the extent of what their child may have been involved in. And as such, may not have reported it to the police." 

The assaults are believed to have taken place in the Edmonton area.

Anyone with information is urged to contact police, Shima said.

"Absolutely, there could be more victims," he said. "It's very rare that we wind up with only one or two victims in our investigations.

"Oftentimes, our offenders are finding ways to reach out to more and more and more victims, hoping that eventually one or two of them will actually carry on ... and provide them with what they want." 

Kowalchuk was arrested at an Edmonton address. He was found carrying a backpack with a Taser inside, Shima said. 

Shima said the accused has not been co-operative with investigators.

Kowalchuk remains in custody and is scheduled to appear in court on Friday.

ALERT, the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams, is made up of 400 municipal police and RCMP officers who investigate organized and serious crime.

Shima said the unit is dealing with an alarming number of child exploitation cases.

He said summer can be a vulnerable time as many children are spending more time unsupervised on the internet and predators have more time to groom potential victims.

He said it's important that parents speak with their children about the risks of interacting with strangers online.