Accused in Strathroy sex assault of minor also charged in child-luring case

After a Toronto-area man was charged with posing as a teenager to lure an underage girl into a sexual encounter, York Regional police warned last month there could be other complainants.

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Days later, Strathroy-Caradoc police launched an investigation that led to the arrest of the same man, Shubham Sahota, 20, of Vaughan who now faces more sex-related charges involving a minor.

Investigators in the Southwestern Ontario town say they believe there could be additional complainants and encouraged them to come forward, noting the accused has been known to use “false names” on social media platforms.

In the most recent case, Sahota is accused of sexually assaulting an underage girl on April 28 and May 5 at a Strathroy hotel, according to court records.

Sahota appeared in a London court on June 27 and was held in custody until Tuesday, when he was released on bail after his surety pledged $2,000, the documents say.

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Under his release conditions, Sahota must live with his surety in Vaughan, not leave the home between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., not contact or go near the complainant in the case and not possess any weapons or use electronic devices that can access the internet. The case returns to court on Aug. 1.

York Regional police began investigating in April after a 12-year-old girl began communicating on social media with a man posing as a 16-year-old, who sent sexual photos to the girl and arranged to meet up for a sexual encounter, police said.

The suspect sent a ride-share vehicle to pick up the girl on May 7 and the two engaged in a sex act at his house, police said.

Sahota was charged with sexual interference, luring a child, invitation to sexual touching, arranging a sexual offence against a minor and making sexually explicit material available to a child. His case returns to court in Newmarket on July 17.

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Both Strathroy-Caradoc and York Regional police published Sahota’s photo in their media releases and encouraged any other complainants to contact them.

Lindsay Lobb of The Canadian Centre for Child Protection said the case highlights the safety challenges social media poses to both children and their parents.

“One of the big things that parents should know is that this can happen really easily,” Lobb, the director of operations for the Winnipeg-based organization, said of child luring and exploitation online.

“What we’re seeing is parents are not always aware that apps like Instagram and Snapchat are where kids are being victimized because they are where the kids are,” she said, adding predators use deceptive tactics to groom their victims, who aren’t emotionally mature enough to recognize the warning signs.

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“These individuals are deceptive and they use different control tactics and the kids don’t necessarily have the ability to recognize. “It’s often under the guise of a relationship,” Lobb said.

Parents should have conversations with their kids about the risks of social media while also monitoring their use of the platform, she said. “We say this to arm parents with information, not to blame parents.”

The Canadian Centre for Child Protection operates two websites, needhelpnow.ca and cybertip.ca, to report cases of sexual exploitation and offer resources to children and parents.

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