Former Alberta RCMP officer acquitted of child luring charges laid after internet 'sting'
CBC
A former Alberta RCMP officer has been acquitted of child luring after a judge found reasonable doubt the man believed he was communicating with an underage girl during a “sting by a private citizen.”
Evan Peacock, 34, was found not guilty on Friday of two counts of child luring and one count of making sexually explicit material available to a person he believed to be younger than 18. The charges were laid in June 2024, about two months after he was initially arrested and accused of possessing, accessing and distributing child sexual abuse material.
Court of King’s Bench Justice Grant Dunlop also found Peacock not guilty of breaching a release condition related to restrictions on his internet use from his first set of charges.
The trial revolved around whether Peacock actually believed he was speaking to a teenager when he exchanged sexually explicit messages and images with a woman in her 30s.
“I acknowledge there are problems with Mr. Peacock’s credibility. They are not sufficient to satisfy me Mr. Peacock was lying,” Dunlop said.
“This case is not a police sting. It is a sting by a private citizen.”
After his initial arrest nearly two years ago, RCMP said Peacock was suspended with pay.
An RCMP spokesperson said on Friday that the former constable was discharged from the force in August 2024. He previously worked out of the detachment in St. Paul, Alta.
Court heard that a woman, Jasmin Naqvi, first messaged Peacock after seeing him in a group related to sexual fantasy and role play on Reddit, an online forum and social media platform.
Her identity was subject to a publication ban during the trial, but Dunlop lifted it on Friday when proceedings concluded and Peacock was acquitted.
She discovered, through information Peacock gave about himself, that he had been a police officer and he was accused of child sexual exploitation offences.
Naqvi eventually contacted RCMP to tell them she was concerned because he had “admitted to having sexual thoughts about teenage girls” during their conversation. She testified that she believed he was a dangerous person.
In her initial chat with Peacock, the two established that she was an adult in her 30s. But she subsequently messaged him from a different account with a different username, telling him she was 18, then saying she was actually 15.
Peacock was arrested in Edmonton after making plans to meet at Kingsway Mall with the person he was messaging in the second chat.
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