BC’s attorney general says the province is taking the next step in its plan to tackle online sextortion. Niki Sharma says the province intends to launch an online platform in January that will allow people to report if their intimate images are being distributed without their consent, and provide an order telling the perpetrator to stop distributing images and for online platforms to take it down. Her comments come after Mounties in Prince George, BC, said a 12-year-old boy had died by suicide after being targeted in an online sextortion scheme. Sharma called the boy’s death “terrible” and offered her condolences to his family.
The mother and stepfather of six-year-old Dontay Lucas have pleaded guilty to manslaughter in his death. Dan McLaughlin with the BC Prosecution Service says the pair made the plea a Port Alberni court yesterday. The boy was found in his mother’s Port Alberni home in March 2018, but it was more than four years before police charged the pair with first-degree murder. McLaughlin says a sentencing hearing for Mitchell and Rykel Frank will be held in May next year.
The leader of the BC Conservatives is rejecting accusations that he’s stoking hateful politics with his opposition to school programs about sexual orientation and gender identity, known as SOGI. John Rustad was responding to comments Monday by Attorney General Niki Sharma about a highway chase on the weekend that ended when a tractor flying an anti-SOGI protest flag crashed with a police car and flipped over. Sharma said it was a concerning incident and Rustad’s party is to blame for “dangerous protests” about the issue. Rustad says parents are right to raise concerns about SOGI, saying the education system should refocus on academics and leave social issues to families.
Members of the public attending council meetings and other public events at Vancouver City Hall will now go through an enhanced security screening process. The city says in a statement that the change is responding to the evolving security environment and following in the footsteps of other Canadian cities that have adopted similar security measures. However, the city released no further details on the nature of the potential security concerns. It says city hall is remaining open and accessible to everyone and the new measures are aimed at creating a safe place.
A hiker was rescued after sliding down the side of Mount Seymour and being stranded for nine hours. Mounties say they were called Sunday evening after a group of hikers were out for their first trip together and realized one of their members had not returned with them. As temperatures dropped, North Shore Search and Rescue was called out to help and located the hiker using a foot search. Police say the hiker had slipped while trying to take a shortcut and eventually landed near a river, suffering minor injuries.
Kelowna RCMP are asking for the public’s help to identify an accused shoplifter who has stolen close to 20-thousand dollars inmerchandise from three stores over the past few weeks. Mounties say they responded to a theft from a liquor store in Kelowna last week and the suspect had stolen a very expensive bottle of premium liquor. Police say surveillance footage shows that the man is also responsible for multiple thefts in Kelowna, including from a hardware store and a music store. The suspect was described as having a very distinct tattoo along the right side of his neck and throat.