A UK professor who allegedly posed as Justin Bieber online (mainly through Facebook and Skype) has been charged with over 900 child sex crimes, as reported by NBC News. The accused, Gordon Douglas Chalmers, is being charged with soliciting explicit images from minors, and law enforcement’s investigation revealed that he’s got quite an (alleged) history.
Chalmers, who is 42, was first charged in November 2016 after a tip led officials to secure warrants and discover that this may be a decade-long pattern of behavior. This week, he was charged with 931 child sex offenses (including possession of child porn), and Police Detective Inspector Jon Rouse’s statement should cause alarm for parents:
“The fact that so many children could believe that they were communicating with this particular celebrity highlights the need for a serious rethink about the way that we as a society educate our children about online safety. The breadth of offenses committed in this instance is frankly horrendous.”
Chalmer’s plea on these charges is still unknown at this time, but Rouse noted that the scope of these crimes is a reflection of “the global reach and skill that child sex offenders have to groom and seduce victims.”
Bieber boasts a Twitter following of over 92 million, and social media platforms have attempted to crack down on impersonators through multiple means, including the all-important verification process.
(Via NBC News)