Investigators with the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) have laid a number of charges against a Strathcona County man, for allegedly luring and sexually assaulting an Edmonton teenager.

ALERT said Sean Palylyk, 39, had been charged with two counts each of sexual assault, sexual interference, luring a child and one count of possession of child pornography.

Investigators said the charges follow search warrants executed at Palylyk’s home in Strathcona County, by RCMP and the ALERT Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) Unit.

It’s alleged the accused met the girl on a social media website, and the two exchanged sexually explicit messages over a two year period, before they started meeting.

“It progressed for quite some time until she was 14, was the first time they actually had contact and met up and had sex,” Sgt. Mike Lokken with the ICE Unit said. “Then it happened again when she was 15-years-old.”

Officials said officers were executing a search warrant at Palylyk’s home on an unrelated matter, when they discovered evidence of the relationship with the teenaged girl.

“We find that a lot of young people are getting to know and trust people online,” Lokken said. “Then they’re meeting up with them, in this case in particular he didn’t pretend to be someone else, he was using his real identity.”

Officials said the girl’s parents had no knowledge of the relationship – and one social media expert said most parents don’t.

“No amount of privacy locks are going to actually keep kids off of the internet in the ways that we think they will,” Nikki Van Dusen at MacEwan University said.

Van Dusen said the key to keeping kids safe online is communication and trust.

“You can start to teach them critical thinking, so that they can evaluate the content that they’re seeing online and make smart decisions about whether or not that’s sketchy,” Van Dusen said, going on to suggest knowing their passwords, and checking their online activity.

Investigators say forensic examination has now begun on the electronic devices seized from the accused. They add that additional victims may be identified.

Palylyk was arrested Wednesday, but has been released on several conditions.

With files from Amanda Anderson