Edmonton man charged for allegedly using Snapchat to track and exploit minors

An 18-year-old Edmonton man, Arshdeep Singh, has been charged following an investigation by the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit. Singh, who used the Snapchat username ‘max_bxyz’, is accused of using the platform’s location-sharing features to track the movements and home addresses of two minors.

Authorities allege that Singh communicated with the youths online and used threats to coerce them into sharing sexually explicit videos. Investigators believe the suspect used the information gathered to identify the victims' school and family home.

Singh faces multiple charges, including child luring, extortion, criminal harassment, and the making, possessing, and accessing of child sexual abuse and exploitation materials. ICE officials are urging parents to review social media privacy settings, specifically location tracking, to protect children from similar exploitation.