Child luring over the Internet
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Child luring over the Internet was added as a criminal offence under the Criminal Code in 2002. Although such offences represent a small proportion of all police-reported crime (and that data represent only a fraction of the incidents that have come to the attention of police), the number of charges has been increasing.
Police services reported 464 incidents in 2006 and 2007—a rate of 3 incidents per 100,000 young people (aged 17 and younger) per year.
During those two years, 64% of the incidents were not solved by police. An accused was identified in about one-third of luring cases compared with about half of child pornography incidents and more than three-quarters of other sexual offences primarily involving sexual abuse of children.
The proportion of unsolved child-luring incidents likely reflects the unique challenges in identifying and apprehending online predators.
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