U.S. man ordered to leave Canada after potential child-luring incident in Nanaimo

Nanaimo RCMP say a potential child-luring incident was averted after a 53-year-old man came to Vancouver Island to meet with a young girl.

Police say they were called to Robins Park in Nanaimo, B.C., on June 29 after two city workers saw the mismatched pair speaking together around 1:30 p.m.

"The witnesses said that the two were sitting very close to each other in the bleachers and by their interactions and body gestures it did not appear that it was a father-daughter relationship," said RCMP in a release Monday.

Nanaimo RCMP Const. Gary O'Brien says the workers were setting up a baseball diamond when they became suspicious of the man.

"Interestingly enough, the man, the 53-year-old, kept looking back at them too," said O'Brien.

Eventually the workers said they'd "seen enough" and contacted police.

Mounties then came to the park to speak with both the man and the girl, who police say is aged 11 to 15.

'COULD HAVE ENDED TERRIBLY'

The youth told police that she met the man through a social media platform called V-sing, a karaoke app that lets people share videos of themselves singing and chat through a private messenger.

The girl told police that she thought the man was 25 and that they had been speaking for about nine months, including through daily FaceTime calls on her cellphone.

The youth told police that the pair were "nothing more than good friends," and when police spoke with the man he said the same thing.

However, while the man claimed the two were only friends, police say "he did not deny that his intentions could be seen as being sexual in nature."

"He knew exactly what he was there for," O'Brien told CTV News. "She may not have. She may have thought in her own young child's mind that he was a friend. There's no friendship associated with his intent."

Robins Park in Nanaimo, B.C., is pictured. (Google Earth)

The man told police that he had arrived in Nanaimo earlier that day after traveling from his home in the U.S. Mid-West.

"We have to work on the worst case scenario and we have seen this before," said O'Brien.

"If she had ended up in that hotel room she could've been drugged, her hair could've been dyed, she could've been thrown into the trunk of the car and we'd never see her again," he said.

"We don't know exactly what would've happened but we need to work on the worst case scenario."

U.S. INVOLVEMENT

Mounties say there was not enough evidence to arrest the man at the time, but he was ordered to leave the country.

Police say the Canada Border Security Agency was able to confirm he had travelled back to the U.S. later that day.

Nanaimo RCMP and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security are investigating the incident. The man currently faces no charges.

"We're working in conjunction with Homeland Security," said O'Brien. "We'll see if there's enough [for] charges on our end or on the U.S. side as well."

The constable says he's grateful to the two city workers who called in the incident.

"Investigators would also like to acknowledge the witnesses who provided such timely evidence," he said in a statement. "If it was not for their astute observations and phone call, this incident could have ended terribly for this young lady and her family."

O'Brien encourages anyone who sees something suspicious to phone police if they need to.

"If you see something, if you come across a situation that makes you feel uncomfortable, do not walk away. Watch for a while, form your own opinion, and if necessary call us," he said. "Do not feel embarrassed you may be saving a life."

O'Brien says the two city workers who called in the incident are going to receive an award of recognition from the RCMP detachment. 

Police have also released several tips for keeping kids safe online:

• Try to engage them conversation about their online activity
• Know who your children’s online friends are
• Monitor what apps and websites that they are using and when
• Do not allow cell phones, tablets or any electronic device in their bedrooms
• Tell your children to keep their location settings private

More internet safety tips can also be found on the Canadian Child Prevention Centre website.