Online stalker used fake profiles
A Toronto man used fake profiles on unprotected social network sites to stalk young girls across Canada and beg them to send him compromising images and perform sexual acts over a webcam, police say.
Police allege the 42-year-old man posed as a 19- and 21-year-old man on various sites, using the alias “Alex Sirop” to lure young girls for at least six years.
“The girls he chatted with thought they knew who he was and some talked about moving in with him, or even marrying him,” said Toronto police Det. Joel Manherz.
“For some, he became the highlight of their day and he would feed their needs because they fed his.”
In September 2010, an Alberta girl told the RCMP about an encounter on the Edmonton-based social network Nexopia.com with a 19-yearold named Alex Sirop.
“The male . . . demanded and at other times begged the victim to send him compromising pictures of herself and to masturbate for him on webcam,” said Toronto police Det. Joel Manherz.
The man was found to have numerous images of child sexual abuse, representing other victims of his online stalking, police said.
There is also some indication he may have met with some of the young girls, Manherz said.
Nexopia, which launched in 2003, claims to have 1.2 million members and be “the online place for teens to connect and express themselves.”
As is becoming the trend with many major social networks, Nexopia user information is public by default, unless changed, and user profiles are searchable using a wide range of parameters, including, age, location, sexuality and interests.
In 2010, the Ottawa-based Public Interest Advocacy Centre filed a complaint with the federal privacy commissioner citing concern about Nexopia and the sharing of young people’s information.
John Lawford, lawyer for the centre, said youth are vulnerable on such sites which make their information public and accessible to a wide range of people.
Police said the man used Nexopia, Facebook and MSN Messenger to meet and lure young girls. There is also an “Alex Sirop” on Myspace, using the same profile photo.
The man befriended girls in B.C., Alberta, Ontario and possibly elsewhere in Canada. Police said the relationships he built online spanned years.
Police are hoping more victims come forward and stressed anyone who believes they may have been victimized is not in any trouble.
Shiraz Nariman, 42, of Scarborough, is charged with luring a child, invitation to sexual touching, and accessing, possession and making child pornography. He was one of 60 people arrested in a huge Ontario child porn sweep this week.