[Updated 10/3 @ 10:30 a.m. ET with a statement from Facebook.]
By Catherine Lucey, Steve Peoples and Reid Wilson
NEW YORK — A 30-year-old man was arrested Friday in Toronto on charges of possession and distribution of child pornography.
A criminal complaint filed in the Manhattan U.S. District Court says Raphael Arias Tricia Jr. sexually abused children in New York. He was arrested in Toronto after traveling there from New York, according to court documents.
Authorities allege that Tricia is also a registered sex offender who served prison time for child pornography charges.
Court documents say one of the devices Tricia was allegedly using to distribute the child pornography was a Samsung Galaxy Note 9 device, which has digital features not permitted for use by registered sex offenders.
The complaint says Tricia ran a business renting bicycles in Toronto and posted ads on the classified service Kijiji. He advertised himself as an electric bike technician and used the company’s e-bike catalog to obtain an interest list, according to the complaint. The FBI obtained a search warrant for Tricia’s home and found text messages between Tricia and one of the victims.
Tricia told the victim he had images of the child “naughty stuff” the child had done, according to the complaint. The victim told investigators he worked with Tricia installing e-bike charging stations in his community. The indictment alleges that Tricia sexually abused the boy at various locations in Chicago.
Tricia was arrested Friday and taken into custody without incident, according to Const. Rob Carver of the Toronto Police. His court-appointed attorney didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Messages seeking comment from Facebook and Reddit, two of the websites where Tricia allegedly distributed child pornography, were not immediately returned.
Court records show Tricia appeared at a preliminary hearing and was ordered detained until his trial.
This article was written by Catherine Lucey and Steve Peoples, reporters for The Washington Post, from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to [email protected].