59-year-old Maple Ridge man arrested for luring young children online

Do you have young children? Do you discuss with them about what they do online, especially when it comes to chatting with people who they do not know?

That is the warning RCMP sent out to parents today after 59-year-old Maple Ridge resident David Anderson was arrested for trying to meet a police officer who was undercover posing as a 13-year-old-girl.

It began last month with an investigation spearheaded by the Integrated Child Exploitation Unit (ICE) and Integrated Sexual Predator Observation Team (ISOT) when Anderson pretended to be a teenage boy online. Police took action when he made attempts to arrange a date and time to meet the fake girl.

The arrest was made on September 4 and he is now facing two charges of child luring and a third charge for breaking a probation from a previous child luring incident. He failed to follow the court-imposed conditions of no internet access and contact with any female child under the age of 16 unless in the company of a responsible adult.

“This is just one of the many successful proactive investigations conducted by the B.C. ICE unit and our partner units,” said Inspector Rick Greenwood of BC ICE in a statement.

“Parents should remain vigilant about who their children are chatting with online. The best way to protect your children is to be informed and involved in their online lives.”

Feature Image: Arrested handcuffs via Shutterstock