A 51-year-old Roxboro man was freed on bail Wednesday afternoon. He faces charges related to luring children over the Internet.
Gervais Levasseur was arrested at his home Tuesday morning, following a joint investigation by the Surete du Quebec and the RCMP that began in May.
Levasseur has allegedly used online chat rooms since 2003 to arrange meetings for sexual purposes. Levasseur would pass himself off as a young woman interested in meeting the boy, who would then show up to discover his date was a man, the RCMP explained.
The Surete du Quebec said it thwarted another attempt by Levasseur to lure a boy earlier this month, where the police showed up at the meeting instead of the child. He was immediately put under arrest and formally charged at the Montreal courthouse.
Levasseur has a prior conviction for uttering death threats and firearms violations.
"What my client is charged with is having communicated with a child 16 an under through the Internet, through a computer," explained defence lawyer Fabienne Ramely.
Police seized the man's computer and other material, which will be analyzed by investigators.
He has been freed on $1000 bail, with orders to stay away from children. He is also forbidden from using a computer or the Internet while he awaits trial.
Additional charges may be laid.
Increasingly common crime
Such crimes are now so common the the SQ and RCMP both have full-time investigators patrolling Internet chat rooms, searching for sexual predators.
Security experts say most of these predators use similar tactics, which parents should be warned about.
"A lot of time they'll start off with the befriending technique where they'll pretend they're the same age as them, enjoy the same interests, maybe the same awkwardness." explained Internet security expect Terry Cutler. "The predator will say some secrets and in return the child will say the same, and they'll create a bond."
