Boy, 17, faces child porn charges after allegedly posing as teen girl online
Accused allegedly persuaded boys to send partially nude photos that he shared on social media
A 17-year-old boy is facing a number of child pornography charges after he allegedly posed as a teenage girl online to get boys to send him partially nude pictures of themselves that he then distributed on social media.
Toronto police say the teen posed as a 15-year-old girl and communicated with boys through a number of social media sites, including Kik, Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram. He went by the usernames "Amanda" and "PencilCrayons," among others, and used an image of a young actress as his avatar.
The teen's alleged activities took place between September 2014 and April 2015. Police said he would start conversations with boys before asking them to send him pictures.
Investigators would not disclose how many victims have been identified but said they believe there are more who haven't contacted police, Const. Jenifferjit Sidhu told CBC News.
Police arrested the boy on Monday. He is charged with:
- Luring a child (under 18).
- Extortion.
- Two counts of distributing child pornography.
- Possession of child pornography.
- Accessing child pornography.
The accused appeared in court on Tuesday but police did not immediately know the outcome of his appearance.
Meanwhile, police believe the actress is unaware that her photo was being used, and are attempting to contact her agent.
Investigators are appealing to anyone who may have had contact with the accused to call police at 416-808-8500, or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS. Tips can also be sent to the national tipline for the online sexual exploitation of children at cybertip.ca.