A 61-year-old Calgarian faces numerous charges in connection with his relationship with a teenage boy from Lethbridge.

According to the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT), a complaint was made to the Lethbridge Police Service in March after the teenager’s parents discovered sexually explicit images, video and messages on his computer.

Members of the Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) team launched an investigation into the allegations and identified 61-year-old Laurence Bouwmeester as a suspect.

ICE alleges Bouwmeester and the teen, who was 14 at the time, met online and developed an inappropriate, physical relationship that lasted nearly two years.

Cst. Jason Richmond of the Lethbridge Police Service said the online application where the accused and victim met is not being disclosed in order to protect the identity of the teen.

"He represented himself as he was," said Richmond of Bouwmeester's online presence. "There was no trickery."

A search of Bouwmeester’s Calgary home resulted in the seizure of upwards of electronic devices, including computers, allegedly containing child sexual exploitation photographs. Investigators suspect there are additional victims. Bouwmeester was arrested at his Calgary home on Tuesday, August 23.

"We have to forensically investigate all of the devices before we can say for certain (if there are other victims) but at this point, from what are forensic technicians have seen, it wouldn't surprise us to  find out that there are more victims," said Richmond.

Bouwmeester faces charges including:

  • Sexual assault
  • Sexual interference
  • Luring to make child pornography
  • Luring for sexual assault
  • Making child pornography
  • Possessing child pornography
  • Accessing child pornography
  • Making sexually explicit material available to a child

The accused remains in custody and is scheduled to appear in court on September 2. "This is the first time he's faced criminal charges for this type of offence."

Richmond says families should talk about the potential dangers online.

“Have a conversation with your kids about these type of offences,” recommends Richmond. “Every parent knows their children’s in-person friends but they might now know their online friends."

"This is prevalent and this is happening online."

Anyone with information pertaining to this investigation or any child exploitation offence is encouraged to contact local police or cybertip- Canada's national tipline for reporting the online sexual exploitation of children.