An Abbotsford sex offender convicted of luring youths over the Internet allegedly created a fake online Facebook persona and managed to collect close to 300 "friends."
Jeffrey Goddard, 22, was arrested last Thursday for violating court conditions barring him access to the Internet and any contact with minors.
Adopting the name "Ryan Martin Stewart," Goddard allegedly created an elaborate false identity that included the creation of a family-run landscaping company and an employment history as part of a ruse to make contact with youth on the Internet, said Const. Ian MacDonald.
"He used the fictitious persona and the landscaping company as a means to look for face-to-face meetings with people under 18," said MacDonald.
"The company provided the financial or employment incentive as a potential lure."
In the false profile, Stewart is listed as the supervisor at Stewart Landscaping, and a former student who lives in Abbotsford.
"I am a really loveing person and i am caring if u wanna know anymore about me please dont be affraid to ask me," states one posting.
The page has numerous pictures of puppies, kittens, other baby animals as well as links to music videos and, rock and pop bands.
With the recent Facebook site, Goddard managed to accumulate more friends than he had when convicted, said MacDonald.
Goddard previously used Facebook to connect with his victims, who were between 12 and 16, and all but two of whom were boys.
In that case, he employed at least five aliases to make contact with the young people.
He would glean telephone numbers and call the victims, pose as a police officer and offer them gifts or work opportunities in an effort to get the teens to meet him.
One 15-year-old boy ran away from his foster home to stay at Goddard's home, where Goddard made sexual advances.
He was sentenced to 20 months behind bars in June 2011 after pleading guilty to invitation to sexual touching, luring a child under 16 via a computer, impersonating a police officer and two breaches of bail conditions.
He was released on probation in February, at which time the Abbotsford Police Department issued its third public warning about him.
Investigators want anyone who interacted with Goodard to contact them at 604-859-5225.
