Last week, a 32-year-old man from Ohio was charged after a 10-year-old girl from Manitoba was lured into sending sexually explicit images and videos.
The man was posing as a boy in his early teens. The contact began on a popular social media platform before it shifted to text messages. While the RCMP don't know how long the two had been communicating, the man groomed the girl and convinced her to send the messages and videos.
Cortney Arden Wise III is charged with sexual exploitation of children, receiving images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct and possession of child pornography.
CKDM News chatted with Gord Olson, Sgt, who worked 15 years with the RCMP's Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit from 2010 to 2025. It's a specialized, integrated team tasked with investigating crimes involving the online sexual exploitation of children.
He said parents need to be more aware of what their children are doing online. It's important to have those tough conversations with their kids and try to figure out who they're speaking with.
"The kids themselves have to be on top of that as well. Be mindful of what's going on," said Olson. "If it's too good to be true, it probably is. In that case, they probably shouldn't be involved with that. Whether it's engaging with someone online or being offered something."
So what is too good to be true? While it can be difficult for a young person to decipher what's too good to be true and what isn't, there are signs.
"I'll give you this if you do this for me. Any of those kinds of deals should be looked at as not good," said Olson. "That's when it is time to end the conversation and tell a parent."
While Olson says a parent doesn't always need to be told, he says it's never a bad thing for children to be extra cautious.
Police-reported online sexual exploitation incidents rose by a staggering 374% between 2014 and 2024. Between 2020 and 2025, reports of online luring, which is communicating with a child for a sexual purpose, increased 344%.
Social media and gaming platforms are the primary venues for grooming. It's estimated that 86% of online sexual victimization occurs via private messaging or video calls.
While these cases are on the rise in Manitoba, it's a global problem. Earlier this year, a 15-year-old boy was charged with several offences related to extortion and posting child sexual abuse imagery in a case involving a teenage girl in Belgium.
"Unfortunately, the bad actors out there, the predators that know kids are online using any platform and know they can make that contact," continued Olson.
Earlier this year, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew announced that the province would ban youth from using social media and AI chatbots. The proposed law will be the first of its kind in Canada. Kinew did not say what age the province is considering for the ban, how it will be enforced, or provide a timeline.
Also, earlier this year, Australia became the first country in the world to ban children under the age of 16 from using major social media platforms, including TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, X, and YouTube.
While Kinew provided little detail as to what the ban would look like in Manitoba, Olson says it's a major step in the right direction.
"You know, I love that decision," ended Olson. "I am really interested and looking forward to seeing what the province does to police that and try to mitigate anyone under the age of 16 being able to access this type of social media."
NewsNow will continue to follow Kinew's previous announcement and provide updates when they become available.
