Man accused of luring, sexually assaulting children in Edmonton area

At least six children were allegedly victimized by an Edmonton man now facing charges of sexual assault, sexual interference and making and transmitting child pornography, law enforcement officials say.

ALERT's Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit announced the charges against 21-year-old Imesh Ratnayake on Wednesday.

Ratnayake is accused of contacting the children online and meeting them in Morinville and the Edmonton area, luring them into performing sexual acts between September 2021 and June 2022.

A report was first made to the Morinville RCMP detachment. 

"ICE alleges that Ratnayake targeted young girls via the social media application Snapchat. He was able to perpetuate the offences by gaining access to the victim’s contacts, in some instances through extortion," ICE said in a statement.

The victims ranged in age from 11 to 13 years old at the time of the offences. 

Morinville has a population of roughly 10,000 and is located 30 kilometres north of Alberta's capital city. 

"We don't have any information right now to believe he has any personal connection to that town, which makes this that much more, I guess, scary," commented Sgt. Kerry Shima. 

ACCUSED USED SNAPCHAT 

Shima said ICE has "reason" to believe there are other victims, and asked anyone with information to call the unit at 780-509-3363, their local police, or Crime Stoppers anonymously.

ICE is also keeping an eye out for other victims that may appear during the course of the investigation. 

"[The forensic team is] going through some devices that we have right now, that we seized throughout the course of the investigation, and we're looking to identify any potential victims that might turn up in those exams," Shima told reporters on Wednesday. 

Ratnayake used the Snapchat handles “islandsauce0129” and “monked.ruffy." He also used a 2011 Acura CSX in some of the alleged offences, police said.

In addition to the charges listed above, he faces charges of luring a child, possessing child pornography, obtaining sexual service for consideration from persons under 18, invitation to sexual touching, distribution of intimate images and extortion.

Ratnayake is not charged with sexual assault against each of the six known victims, however Shima said the 21-year-old "had criminal involvement with all of the victims to some degree." 

Ratnayake was released with conditions and given a court date in Morinville on Aug. 4. 

HOW TO TALK TO YOUR KIDS 

Shima offered advice to local parents who may be concerned their child was harmed. 

"Look for changes in behaviour. Have open and frank conversations about sexual assault, consent, child luring, strangers on the internet, things like that, people you don't know, adding friends to your friends list." 

He recommended direct questions. 

• Are you having any relationships online?
• Do you have any friends in your Snapchat friends list or your Instagram account who you don't know?
• Is there anyone asking you for nudes?
• Is there anyone complimenting you unusually?
• Is there anyone offering you something for sex? Is there anyone offering you something for photos?

"Interrogating them isn't going to work, not with teenagers, so we need to have a relationship and discussion rather than interrogation," Shima said. 

"Part of that is ensuring these kids have a safe place to go when something goes sideways and if kids don't feel that they have a parent's trust to the depth of something so intimate as a sexual assault, then they may not report… Getting down to their level, speaking their language, and speaking in a language they all understand. Also coming up to their level where they can teach us about these platforms. I have teenage kids myself and I have them teach me about Snapchat," he shared. 

He also advised guardians to find the parent guides offered by social media platforms, which are provided freely online: 

• Snapchat parent guide
• Instagram parent guide 
• Facebook parent guide
• TikTok parent guide