On October 7, 2008 British man Rachata Burasite pled guilty to a charge of Child Luring after having traveled to Canada to have sex with an 11 year old Canadian girl with whom he had been conversing in the virtual world Gaia.

After having exchanged messages on line and in text with the girl for two years, Burasite flew from England to Vancouver to meet the girl in person. A CBSA border guard interviewed Burasite as he entered the Vancouver International Airport and was suspicious enough that he or she requested that Burasite go undergo a secondary inspection.

During the secondary inspection by the CBSA, Burasite was discovered have pictures depicting the sexual abuse of children on his mobile phone. This led to the involvement of the RCMPs Integrated Child Exploitation Unit for further investigation which uncovered Burasite’s real intent for being in Canada.

Burasite had been in RCMP custody for two months prior awaiting his trial but he eventually he did have his trial in mid November. Despite having admitted guilt and receiving a six month sentence he was released for “time served” in recognition of the time he spent in jail prior to his trial.

According to the Times Online Burasite is now back in England. He was deported sometime in late November after receiving sentencing in Canada and upon his arrival in Britian he was taken to the Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court and placed on the UK Sex Offenders’ Register

As indicated by Virtual World News Gaia does not allow anyone under 13 to register, but apparently that system was defeated by the 11 year old girl. This is one of the reasons why the Internet is considered “hostile territory,” the checks and balances imposed by the service providers and platform owners don’t always work.

Parents are encouraged to be vigilant about their children’s activities on line and if you would like more information on child safety tips relating to Internet use, please visit Cybertip.ca.