TORONTO — The arrest of an Ontario man who allegedly talked more than 100 young girls into exposing themselves over the Internet via webcam should serve as a wake-up call to parents whose children chat online, an Internet security expert said Friday.
Police allege a man from Kingston, Ont., used e-mail and instant-messaging software to dupe girls in Canada and the United Kingdom into thinking they were chatting with friends before encouraging them to remove their clothes or perform sex acts for the camera.
The girls, who ranged in age from nine to 15, were allegedly threatened with rape, bodily harm and death if they didn’t co-operate with the wishes of the accused, Ontario Provincial Police Det. Sgt. Frank Goldschmidt told a news conference Friday.
"I have never seen this many victims involved, and I’m safe to say that at this point and time in this early stage of this investigation we’re looking at well in excess of 100," said Goldschmidt, the senior investigator for Ontario’s child pornography section.
Mark Gary Bedford, 21, of Kingston, Ont., is charged with two counts of child luring, two counts of possessing child pornography, three counts of making child pornography, two counts of distributing child pornography and three counts of extortion.
Police allege Bedford, who used the screen names Marco1812000 and Supalover666, would hack into the e-mail accounts of his victims in order to access "buddy lists" in their instant-messaging software.
Internet security expert Rick Broadhead called the allegations a new twist on identity theft, affecting children who don’t realize they’re being victimized.
"I don’t think parents realize the extent to which kids are using chat rooms. I don’t think they realize how vulnerable their children are."
The charges stem from a joint eight-month investigation by police in Canada and the United Kingdom. Additional charges are pending, Goldschmidt said.
Edmonton police Det. Kevin Falds, who works with Alberta’s Integrated Child Exploitation team, said Friday that two teenage girls, 13 and 15 years old, came forward to Edmonton police about a year ago.
They were lured into posing nude and committing sex acts via webcam by getting e-mails they thought were from friends on their buddy list, Falds said.
"They got a message back which we later learned to be from the suspect, saying, ‘I’m not who you think I am. Now I’d like you to do this, this and this or I’m going to show pictures of yourself exposed to your friends, your parents. I’m going to upload them on the Internet.’ "
Police in Ontario also said the man would threaten to take away the child’s online account and buddy list if they didn’t comply — two things Internet-savvy children value more than most parents might realize, Broadhead said.
"For young kids today, there’s probably very few things as precious as their online ID," he said. "Their online world is as important as the physical world they exist in day to day."
Police say parents should better educate themselves about the perils of the Internet, keep their computer in the family room and install programs to restrict what websites their children can access.
"It amazes me to this day that parents allow their children to be locked up in their bedrooms with state-of-the-art computer equipment," said Gold-schmidt.
"It just seems that some of the kids that are involved in this type of activity these days really don’t feel like they’re doing anything wrong because they’re in the comfort of their own home."
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