(Winnipeg Police Release)
On December 2, 2019, the Winnipeg Police Service received a report of a missing 14-year-old female after a note had been found stating she had run away. Members of the Winnipeg Police Service’s Counter Exploitation Unit entered into an investigation. They believed that the female had been lured online by a 27-year-old male in Alberta and that she had been communicating with him since April 2019. On December 3, 2019, members of the Edmonton Police Service located the missing youth with the 27-year-old male at a residence in Edmonton, and she was safely returned to Winnipeg. The investigation continued, and on March 27, 2020, the male turned himself in at the Headquarters building. Briant Adison Anthony Vidrih, a 27-year-old male of Edmonton, Alberta, has been charged with: - Luring a Person Under 14 years of age by Means of Telecommunication (x3) - Luring a Person Under 16 years of age by Means of Telecommunication - Abduction of Person Under Fourteen Years of Age - Abduction of Person Under Sixteen years of age He was detained in custody. Information or tips regarding the online exploitation of children can be made at https://www.cybertip.ca/.