EDMONTON -- A 59-year-old man has been arrested in Red Deer after police said he tried to lure multiple children for sexual purposes.

On May 27, police say Wayne Taylor of Red Deer engaged in electronic and in-person communications with three children, ages eight, nine and 10, that was predatory in nature.

On May 29, Red Deer RCMP, with the help of the Alberta Internet Child Exploitation Unit arrested Taylor, and charged him with six counts of luring a child, two counts of making explicit material available to a child and two counts of sexual interference.

“This situation is extremely disturbing to everyone involved. Red Deer RCMP and ALERT arrested this individual without incident prior to the situation escalating further,” said Cpl. Leigh Nielsen, Red Deer General Investigation Section (GIS). “We continue to investigate this criminal case with our partners in ALERT.”

“There’s no way to sugar coat a case like this, other than to say it is very alarming. I shudder to think of what may have transpired had we not been able to intervene and make a quick arrest,” said Sgt. Randy Poon, ALERT Internet Child Exploitation unit.

Officials said the children and their families are receiving support.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Red Deer RCMP at 403-343-5575 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.