A 48-year-old male from Surrey, BC performs a sex act live via webcam for a fictitious 13-year-old girl.
This is the culmination of weeks of chat correspondence between the Surrey resident and unbeknownst to him, a member of the BC Integrated Child Exploitation (BC ICE) Unit’s Online Covert Investigations (OCI) Team.
On August 9, 2016, George TORRESANI was arrested at his home and a search warrant executed on the premises.
TORRESANI is presently charged with one count each of Luring a Child and Transmitting Sexually Explicit Material to a Person Under the age of 16. He has been released on numerous conditions limiting his access to children and his use of the Internet pending his first appearance.
This is one of numerous cases proactively investigated by BC ICE since the creation of its OCI Team in 2011.
This group of highly trained Sex Crimes investigators seeks to identify, engage with, and subsequently prosecute the worst of the worst offenders – adults who are looking to meet children on the internet for a sexual purpose. In light of recent media attention for a group who claim to be doing similar work, all for the greater good, Sergeant Hernan Topacio who heads the BC ICE Unit expresses some serious concerns with this newest vigilante phenomenon.
The police do absolutely recognize the need to pursue individuals who look to prey on our children. However, given the tremendous risks for public safety should these vigilante confrontations go horribly wrong, or for the true predators to walk away without being prosecuted, this is a job that should be left to the police, says Sgt. Topacio.
We acknowledge we have a common goal with vigilante groups in identifying child predators, Sgt. Topacio adds. Having been in the BC ICE team for a number of years now, I know from experience that perpetrators will not stop targeting children simply by being identified publicly through social media or other means.
The greater focus needs to be placed in identifying and rescuing victims and ensuring that perpetrators are not able to victimize further. Any effort should certainly extend beyond just the initial public identification.
Members of the public should also be aware that the law strictly determines how crimes are investigated and what evidence is required for a successful prosecution. Crimes must be reported to police and the complainant should be prepared to assist police by providing a statement and any evidence contained on electronic devices, as well as online accounts used.
The BC RCMP asks that if you are aware of any incidents of online child exploitation, you report it to your local police or through www.Cybertip.ca.
