Mom of underage victim outraged by CanadaCreep
Shock and disgust.
That’s how one Calgary-area parent reacted upon learning her 14-year-old daughter was featured on the now-shuttered @CanadaCreep twitter account, maligned for sharing voyeuristic photos and video of Calgary women and girls, all taken without their knowledge or consent.
Among those filmed was a 14-year-old girl, whose mother only learned of the situation Tuesday morning.
“I got a phone call this morning from a friend at 7 a.m., who said, ‘Your daughter’s all over the web,’” the mom, whose name is being withheld to protect her daughter’s identity, told Postmedia.
“I’m literally sick to my stomach. She’s 14 years old. It’s absolutely disgusting.”
The clip, shot at this year’s Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, consisted of surreptitious smartphone footage of the girl cosplaying as comic book villain Harley Quinn.
“He focused on her face for probably a good 10 seconds,” she said. “She then walked away, and he followed her and her friends through the comic con.”
The video continued, zooming in on various parts of the girl’s body as the photographer follows behind.
“My daughter was wearing a full-length shirt — a Harley Quinn shirt — with a pair of shorts,” the mother said, describing her daughter’s costume as the farthest thing from revealing.
“It’s disgusting. She was proud of that outfit — she spent her own hard-earned money, about $500, to create that exact outfit.”
While outrage against the account began spreading online late Monday, CanadaCreep appears to have been active for at least a year — amassing more than 17,000 followers.
Anger on social media spread quickly, prompting both victims and outraged Calgarians to vow to track down the person responsible.
The account was suspended by Twitter early Tuesday morning.
Staff Sgt. Cory Dayley of the Calgary Police Service cyber crimes unit said an investigation is currently underway, calling the situation “disturbing.”
“The suspect responsible for the photos and videos, it would be classified as voyeurism,” Dayley said, addressing the media at police headquarters on Tuesday.
Victims are making themselves known to Calgary police, he said, with officers already speaking to numerous women who reported finding their images shared online.
“It’s morally, obviously, and ethically wrong, so we take all of this type of activity very seriously,” he said. “We’re looking at all of the reports coming in, as well as proactively trying to identify people that have been victims.”
Like many online investigations, Dayley and his team face a challenging investigation. He said a priority for investigators is tracking down the person behind not only taking the offending photos, but also sharing them online.
As to the number of offences those responsible could face, Dayley said that aspect of the investigation continues to evolve.
“That’s pretty fluid, but we have multiple offences — I’d say well over 10 at this point, in regards to what we’d classify as voyeurism under the criminal code.”
Investigators have reached out to Twitter to help track down the person responsible.
While CanadaCreep’s reign on Twitter has come to an end, it’s of little comfort to the mother and her daughter.
“The world is tough enough — she shouldn’t have to worry about some creep following her around,” she said. “She doesn’t deserve this.”
Anybody with information on the case is asked to call Calgary police at 403-266-1234, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.