A young social media predator who has been at large for nearly three years was recently sentenced to 14 months in prison for luring a 13-year-old girl. Tanisha Samuels had posed as a 15-year-old boy to catch her prey.
Posted at 8:00 am
Arrested in 2017, the Ontario woman, now 25, pleaded guilty to two counts in October 2019: luring a minor via computer and providing a child with sexually explicit material. The counts related to child pornography were subsequently dropped.
But at the next hearing in February 2020, Tanisha Samuels was conspicuous by her absence. The young woman had been on the heels to go into hiding in Ontario. Police finally arrested her in September 2022 when she was the subject of an arrest warrant. Since then she has been imprisoned.
Tanisha Samuels, then 19, posed as a 15-year-old boy on social media in 2017 to bait her victim. The 13-year-old fell in love with the character “Sam Johnson” created by the defendant. During their virtual exchange, they had “very sexually explicit” discussions.
At the request of Tanisha Samuels, the teenager sent her several photos of himself naked. The defendant also asked him to touch himself and sent him photos of penises. Tanisha Samuels even went so far as to meet the victim three times at a West Island mall. The victim was then convinced that “Sam” was a 15-year-old boy.
The teen’s parents finally discovered the rose pot when they noticed the boy’s email address, said to be 15, was “[email protected]”. Police were able to confirm that “Sam” was in fact a 19-year-old woman.
“A Vulnerable Human”
In 2017, the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) called on the public to find other potential victims of Tanisha Samuels. Investigators said it mainly targeted young girls in lower secondary school.
The parties last month put forward a joint proposal of 14 months, a rather lenient sentence given the aggravating factors. Crown Prosecutor Me Jérôme Laflamme clarified that this proposal took into account the fact that Tanisha Samuels had a mild intellectual disability. Additionally, she had a “traumatic” childhood, according to a report noting her vulnerability.
Me Andrew Galliano, the defense attorney, pointed out that Tanisha Samuels is “almost a 15-year-old girl in her head,” according to the report. “He’s a vulnerable person. Imprisonment will not help him redeem himself,” he argued.
A recent Supreme Court decision concludes that an offender’s existence and vulnerability to disability matter in sentencing.
Judge Jean-Jacques Gagné supported the proposal. Tanisha Samuels’ sentence follows a three-year suspended sentence. She plans to live in Ontario when she leaves prison.