Man pretended to be young girl to lure kids into sending photos

In real life, Simeon Kurban is a 34-year-old man. Online, he pretended to be a prepubescent girl.

Kurban used the ruse to target underage girls, groom them over time and ultimately convince them to send him child pornography of themselves, a Saskatoon provincial courtroom heard.

On Wednesday, he was sentenced to 31/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to child luring and possessing child porn.

Court heard that on Dec. 1, 2020, the Saskatchewan Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit was alerted about someone in Saskatoon luring three children into sending child porn over Discord, an instant messaging app similar to Skype.

The IP address for the user's Google account was traced to Kurban's home, where a search warrant was executed on Dec. 17, 2020, Crown prosecutor Andrew Clements outlined during Kurban's sentencing hearing.

He said a laptop that was seized contained chat conversations between Kurban, who pretended to be 14- and 11-year-old girls, and three child victims from the U.S. and Australia who are believed to have been between 10 and 17 years old. Investigators found 13 photos and one video of the girls that constituted child porn.

All of the conversations happened while Kurban was in Saskatoon and took place over a prolonged period of time, Clements said, arguing that the images were created specifically at Kurban's request through communication that required a “high level of participation.”

Defence lawyer Chris Gratton said Kurban is a first-time offender who believes he is addicted to porn. He said his client is relieved he got caught so he can get the sex-offender treatment he needs.

“What I did is morally wrong. I will use it as an opportunity to rehabilitate and better myself,” Kurban said, hugging his family as he was taken away in handcuffs.

Judge Doug Agnew accepted the joint submission from the Crown and defence, giving Kurban 21/2 years for child luring and the oneyear mandatory minimum sentence for possessing child porn. The Criminal Code mandates that offenders serve consecutive sentences for multiple child sex offences.

Although there is no evidence that Kurban shared the child porn images, the victims will likely spend the rest of their lives wondering if he did, Agnew noted.

Kurban received no remand credit because he has been out of custody on conditions since he was charged. He will be on the national sex-offender registry for the rest of his life.