City Of Nanaimo Employees Interrupt Potential Child Luring Incident

Two City of Nanaimo employees are getting the credit for interrupting a potentially dangerous child luring incident.

Two City of Nanaimo employees are getting the credit for interrupting a potentially dangerous child luring incident.

The incident involved a man in his 50's and a female youth between the ages of 11-15 and occurred on Wednesday June 29, 2022, at Robins Park in south Nanaimo.

The two witnesses told police they were prepping the baseball diamond for a game that night when they first caught site of the man and girl.

The witnesses said that the two were siting 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.

They soon called police. When officers arrived, the young lady told the officer that she was under the impression her friend was 25 years old, when in fact, he is 53.

She also said that she met him through an online social media platform called V-sing, which allows users to record themselves while singing.

She told police the two had been messaging through the app and face time on a daily basis for the last 9 months.

She said the two of them were nothing more than good friends.

The man said he had arrived in Nanaimo that day after travelling from his home in the mid-western U-S.

He told officers he was booked into a local hotel for the next two days.

According to a statement from RCMP, the man tried, unconvincingly, to tell the officer that he and the girl were just friends.

As there was insufficient evidence at the time to detain him, the man was allowed to leave.

The Canada Border Security Agency confirmed that he had crossed the border and had returned to the U-S later the same day.

Police say they continue to "aggressively" pursue the incident, along with the Department of Homeland Security in the United States.

Constable Gary O'Brian of the Nanaimo RCMP says the witnesses who reported the incident need to be acknowledged.

He says if it wasn't for them, things could have ended terribly for this young lady and her family.