Ontario man charged in sexual extortion of a U.S. youth

An Ontario man faces charges in the sexual extortion of a U.S. youth.

A police service in the United States alerted Canadian police to the sexual extortion of a youth in September, Niagara Regional Police said.

The U.S. police started safeguarding measures for the youth while Niagara police investigated.

On Nov. 7, police searched a home in Welland and seized numerous devices capable of storing electronic data, police said.

Police said a digital forensic examination of the devices uncovered evidence to suggest the owner was using the internet to sexually extort numerous people under the age of 18 in Canada, the United States and several other countries.

On Nov. 13, Dylan Allan Smith, 32, a Welland resident, was charged with possession of child pornography.

Smith was held in custody and is set to appear for a bail hearing on Nov. 14 in St. Catharines.

Detectives seek the public’s assistance to identify many victims found on the seized devices.

Names used to sexually extort youth include “Dopious”, “Poloipoloi”, “Addipoloi”, “Dandatsy”, “Dmanslam” and “Daddypoloi”.

Contact police at 905-688-4111 or Crime Stoppers of Niagara at 1-800-222-8477 if you have information on this case. Crime Stoppers offers cash rewards to persons who contact the program with information that leads to an arrest.

Online platforms that allow like-minded users to engage with minors, create, share and store child sexual abuse material are prevalent on the internet, police said. For more information on how to keep children safe online see this site here.