Victoria police recommend child sex charges in 2 online luring investigations
Accused include 28-year-old man believed to be in the country illegally
Two Victoria-area men are accused of luring underage children over the internet after separate investigations by police.
The first investigation centres on a 28-year-old man who investigators believe has been in Canada illegally since 2014, according to a police news release.
Officers began an undercover investigation into his activities at the beginning of the month.
"Through the course of the investigation, it became clear that the man wanted to sexually abuse a child," the news release says.
Officers arranged a meeting with the suspect at an apartment building on Nov. 8, and he was arrested on arrival. Investigators are recommending a charge of luring a child under the age of 16 and say they're working with the Canada Border Services Agency to determine his status in the country.
The second suspect is a 61-year-old Esquimalt man who is accused of abusing a child on the West Shore, according to police.
He was arrested on Nov. 14, and investigators are recommending a long list of charges including child luring, making, possessing and distributing child pornography, making sexually explicit material available to a child, arranging a sexual offence against a child and counselling an offence that was not committed.
The accused man has been released from custody on a promise to appear in court.