Online luring charges laid against man by police in Mississauga, Brampton
Published January 23, 2024 at 4:50 pm
A 62-year-old man from St. Catharines has been charged by police in Peel after a youth under the age of 16 was allegedly lured online by an adult for sexual purposes.
Investigators with the Peel Regional Police Internet Child Exploitation Unit are releasing very few details about the case, saying only that a man has been charged and they believe there could be more victims.
Police didn’t say if the alleged victim is from Mississauga or Brampton, nor did they reveal the age of the young person.
“We are not providing any further information…as it may re-victimize the victim,” a Peel police spokesperson said in an email to insauga.com. “The case is before the courts.”
According to police, an investigation began last August in relation to an unknown online user “luring persons under 16 years of age for a sexual purpose while utilizing social media platforms.”
Police arrested a man last Nov. 22.
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Steven Waterman, 62, of St. Catharines, is charged with:
- luring a child under the age of 16 (two counts)
- luring a child under the age of 18
- breach of prohibition order
Investigators say the suspect was on multiple social media platforms under various user names, including:
- “Steven.Waterman”
- “guyfrmont”
- “guyfrmont2914’
- “STC”
- “Niagara”
- “Niagara_1”
- “twinkluvont”
Police say the investigation is continuing.
Investigators ask anyone with information to contact the Internet Child Exploitation Unit at 905-453-2121, ext. 3490, or Peel Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.
Peel Regional Police said early last year that an 815 per cent increase in reports of online luring in the last five years across Canada shows that children in Mississauga, Brampton and elsewhere are in much greater danger of being targeted by predators.
The dramatic spike in online luring was tracked by Cybertip.ca, Canada’s national tip line for reporting online sexual exploitation of children.
Steven Waterman, 62, faces online luring charges. (Photo: Peel Regional Police)