NEWS RELEASE
YORK REGIONAL POLICE
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Investigators with the York Regional Police Special Victims Unit - Internet Child Exploitation Section (ICE) have charged a 39-year-old man from the Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury with internet child luring-related offences.
In January 2019, a male suspect initiated a chat with a 15-year-old female through an online social media platform. The communications became sexual in nature. Unknown to him, the 15-year-old female was an undercover police officer.
In September 2019, the suspect offered to pay her for sex and attempted to meet with who he believed was the 15-year-old female. The suspect was identified by investigators and on Friday, Sept. 20, 2019, he was arrested outside of his residence. He was held in custody for a bail hearing and was released on a recognizance.
A search warrant was executed at his residence and electronic devices were seized, which will be examined as part of the ongoing investigation.
Charged:
• Kevin Harman, 39, Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury
Charges Include:
• luring to facilitate an indecent exposure to a person under the age of 16
• luring to facilitate a sexual assault
• luring to facilitate child pornography
• luring to facilitate sexual interference
• making sexually explicit material available to a child
• luring to facilitate obtaining sexual services for consideration of a person under 18
Mr. Harman is scheduled to appear in the Ontario Court of Justice in Newmarket on Oct. 23, 2019.
York Regional Police continues to educate the community and aggressively enforce the laws surrounding child pornography. Any person found guilty of an offence related to possession or accessing child pornography can face imprisonment of a minimum of six months or up to five years.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of child exploitation you are urged to report it to your local police service as well as cybertip.ca. Cybertip.ca is an easy-to-use online reporting site which allows citizens to report concerns about the online sexual exploitation of children. The material is loaded to a national database where it can be classified and then investigated by the appropriate police service. Cybertip.ca also provides tips on being safe online for children and parents. You can also find safety tips on our website at www.yrp.ca under Crime Prevention.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the York Regional Police Special Victims Unit - Internet Child Exploitation Section at 1-866-876-5423, ext. 7078 or contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS, or leave an anonymous tip online.
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