Online 'sextortion' suspects were trying to set up network in N.B., says RCMP
Three people were arrested and released, scheduled to appear in court at a later date
Three people arrested earlier this month were allegedly in the process of setting up a "network" aimed at sexually extorting youth in New Brunswick, says the head of the Codiac RCMP.
Supt. Benoit Jolette said two men and a woman from Ivory Coast were "fairly new" to the greater Moncton area when officers arrested them on March 2.
"So we were able to arrest these three individuals, conduct search warrants — one of them was in Moncton and the other was in Dieppe — and seize various electronic devices, and pretty much end the network that they were operating," said Jolette, speaking to Moncton city councillors Monday night.
Jolette said all three are facing serious charges and could potentially be "removed" from Canada in relation to the alleged incidents he referred to as "sextortion."
The update from Jolette comes after the New Brunswick RCMP issued a news release last November warning that it was investigating "several" reports of online extortion targeting youth for financial gain across the province.
The police force updated that release in February to warn about a spike in such reports coming from the Moncton region.
Days later, the RCMP issued another release, announcing that two men, aged 26 and 27, and a 26-year-old woman, all from Ivory Coast, had been arrested in connection to an investigation into online exploitation targeting youth and young adults.
The three were released and are scheduled to appear in court at a later date.
Tip from Quebec police led to arrests
The news release said the RCMP made the arrests, and executed the search warrants, following information it received from the Roussillon Intermunicipal Board of Police in Quebec.
Karine Bergeron, a spokesperson for the Roussillon Intermunicipal Police Force, said in an email that on May 27, 2022, a man in his 20s filed a sextortion complaint with the department.
She said the man sent $1,000 by bank transfer to suspects so that his intimate images would not be published.
"The criminal investigation led the police to the suspects who are located in Moncton and part of an organized network. The RCMP continued the investigation," Bergeron said.
Contacted Tuesday, RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Hans Ouellette said no charges have been laid yet, as the investigation is ongoing. He declined to share further information about the case.
CBC News asked the Canada Border Services Agency whether it was involved in the case, but a spokesperson said the agency wouldn't be able to respond by Tuesday afternoon.
Prior to the arrests, Ouellette said the incidents of online sexual extortion were likely being carried out by "organized crime groups."
He said the suspects would target youth — particularly boys — by convincing them to share intimate photos and videos of themselves and then demanding money in exchange for agreeing to not share them with friends and family.
Increase seen across Canada
Police forces across Canada, as well as child protection agencies, have warned for months of a rise in instances of youth and young adults being sexually extorted online.
The RCMP's National Child Exploitation Crime Centre said it received a total of 52,306 complaints about the crime for the year 2020-21, marking a 510 per cent increase from seven years earlier.
Last August, the Canadian Centre for Child Protection said its Cybertip.ca helpline had been receiving "an unprecedented volume of reports" from youth about falling prey to aggressive sextortion tactics.
The organization said an analysis also found that boys or young men make up 92 per cent of the victims in online sexual extortion reports, with the victims reporting Instagram and Snapchat as the most commonly used social media platforms for the communication.
Anyone who finds themselves in a situation where they're being extorted should immediately stop talking to the other person and deactivate — but not delete — any of the accounts they're using to communicate, says the centre.
The centre advises that victims keep a copy of the messages and information about the perpetrator, such as their username and social media account information, and to reach out to an adult who can help.
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