34-year-old Lee Moir, of Toronto, set up a Facebook Page pretending to be everyone’s favorite pop idol Justin Beiber, and successfully used that profile to sexually abuse and then threaten a 12-year-old girl. Yuck. Gross. Despicable.
He convinced the young girl, who lives in New Jersey, to “perform sexual acts” on her webcam. Later her creep-factor instincts kicked in and she ceased all communication with the imposter-predator. Moir then took his crimes a step further by threatening to harm the girl’s family!
Toronto Police Services set-up an internet sting operation when they learned of the alleged crimes, and had an officer pretending to be a 14-year-old girl online. Moir had sexual conversations with the undercover officers, and arranged a meeting, where they arrested him on several charges related to the 12-year-old girl, including manufacturing child pornography and extortion.
Assistant Prosecutor Deborah Freier, of the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office made this statement:
This arrest highlights both the danger posed to children online as well as the best efforts of law enforcement authorities throughout the world to apprehend these child predators who exploit the wide reach and perceived anonymity of the Internet to take advantage of vulnerable children.
The internet is a dicey place for young girls (and boys, for that matter.) Stay cautious, and always report creepy behavior to the authorities.
