Members of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Child Sexual Exploitation Unit and City of Kawartha Lakes OPP Detachment arrested and charged a City of Kawartha Lakes resident following an online undercover child sexual exploitation investigation.
On May 1, 2020, an individual attended a location in the town of Lindsay for the purposes of meeting a child that was under the age of 16. When the individual arrived, they were met by police and arrested without incident. As a result of this investigation, Peter Austin Rae SWANTON, 22-years-old, was charged with two counts of Luring a person under the age of 16 and four counts of Breaching their release order.
The accused is scheduled to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Lindsay today for a bail hearing.
“The OPP will continue to aggressively identify and pursue individuals who use technology to exploit children. Child exploitation is everyone’s business and police cannot do it alone. Everyone needs to know that these offenders operate amongst us and go undetected due to a lack of understanding. Everyone can make a d i fference by educating themselves about what child sexual exploitation really looks like.” – Staff Sergeant Sharon Hanlon, OPP Child Sexual Exploitation Unit.
Anyone wanting to make a difference is encouraged to go to www.protectchildren.ca and download the “Child Sexual Abuse-It Is Your Business” brochure from the Canadian Center for Child Protection. This is an important first step that can save a child.