A high school employee’s vigilance in the Quebec region led to the arrest of a pedophile following a cyber-infiltration operation.
Luc Mailloux, 37, admitted guilt in Quebec court on Wednesday to computer enticement and possession of child pornography.
“A friend” for 13 years
In March 2021, he was in the parking lot of the Polyvalente de L’Ancienne-Lorette when a specialist teacher stopped him.
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An employee of the Polyvalente de L’Ancienne-Lorette helped initiate the investigation.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Alexandra Duval
According to prosecutor Andréanne Sirois’ statement of facts, Mailloux said he was there to meet a 13-year-old friend.
The teacher asked him to leave the school grounds. A few moments later, the training director spotted Mailloux in another parking lot, very close to the school.
During the intervention, the defendant mentioned that he only wanted to help the 13-year-old girl he was supposed to meet and that she should introduce him to another minor from school that day.
Since Mailloux’s statements raised several questions, Quebec police launched an undercover operation.
Detective Sergeant Olivier Simard contacted Mailloux via social media, posing as a 14-year-old girl.
The defendant told her he thought she was really beautiful and asked her for more photos, Mr Sirois said.
The suspect will make sexual comments and send the fake teen a photo of his private parts and a video of him masturbating.
He invites the victim to his apartment for sex and offers to cover the cost of the bus there.
At the agreed time of the meeting, police officers finally showed up at Mailloux in Lévis and also carried out a search there.
Child pornography
Analysis of the confiscated computer equipment led to the discovery of 18,504 photos, mostly showing girls between the ages of 1 and 10 exposing their private parts or having sexual relations with adults or minors.
The prosecutor added that 37 other video files involved a girl of around ten years old.
Luc Mailloux, who has no previous criminal record, will appear in court again next spring to announce his sentence.
In the meantime he has to undergo a sexological examination. The 30-year-old is released on conditions pending the outcome of the court proceedings.