Preliminary hearing to be set for man accused of luring young girl

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on July 12, 2024.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A 35-year-old city man arrested earlier this year for online child sexual exploitation offences against a girl in Winnipeg is preparing to have a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to warrant a trial.

The matter for Oscar Cubides Palacio was in Lethbridge court of justice on Thursday, where Lethbridge lawyer Greg White sought changes to his client’s previous release conditions, and told the judge he still needed to complete the forms necessary to prepare for the preliminary hearing. That hearing, White added, will likely be scheduled when the case returns to court on July 30.

Palacio is charged with extortion, child luring, invitation to sexual touching, making child pornography, possession of child pornography, accessing child pornography and distributing sexually explicit materials to a minor.

The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) collaborated with Winnipeg police on the investigation, and on Jan. 11 officers searched a Lethbridge home and arrested Palacio.

The offences date back to March 2023 when a man and young girl met online and the perpetrator coerced the girl into providing sexually explicit materials despite knowing she was a youth. Police allege the man exploited the girl using the Snapchat social media platform.

The offences were reported to Winnipeg police the following July, and they launched an inter-provincial investigation to identify the suspect and make an arrest.

“Winnipeg Police Service is seeing an increase in the number of sextortion related incidents,” Sgt. Andrea Scott of the WPS said in a press release following Palacio’s arrest. “By partnering with other law enforcement across Canada we can continue to build strong partnerships and achieve successful outcomes.”

Const. Anthony Tupper of the ALERT Internet Child Exploitation Unit (ICE), said a network of law enforcement professionals share intelligence and work cohesively to hold online offenders accountable.

“The internet isn’t anonymous,” Tupper added.