Man charged in alleged kidnapping in Airdrie has prior child porn convictions

Court records for a Calgary man accused of kidnapping a 12-year-old boy in Airdrie reveal he has twice been convicted of child porn-related offences.

A Calgary man accused of kidnapping a 12-year-old boy in Airdrie had twice been convicted of child pornography-related offences, court documents show.

Zain Alnoor Merchant, 37, is facing nine charges after RCMP say a child escaped an abduction when a group of teens arranged to meet the man in a To Catch a Predator-style scheme.

Merchant’s most recent charges include kidnapping, forcible confinement, sexual contact with a child and three counts of failing to comply with a prohibition order.

According to investigators, the teens and the man exchanged messages over Snapchat before meeting in person near the Coopers Crossing neighbourhood in Airdrie on Monday evening.

“The investigation has revealed that there are numerous youth — ages 12, 13, so quite young — that have been involved in a ‘catch the predators’ scheme. So apparently this is a new scheme on social media,” said Cpl. Gina Slaney with Alberta RCMP.

The boy willingly got into the man’s vehicle, police say, and the man drive off with the teen still inside. The boy was able to escape when the vehicle stopped at a red light a short time later.

Multiple teens and other witnesses phoned 911 and the man was later arrested in northeast Calgary.

“In my knowledge, this has not been done before here in Airdrie. In my service time of 23 years, I haven’t been involved in a similar investigation where we have somebody setting up To Catch a Predator or anything along those lines,” Cpl. Christopher Hrynyk of the Airdrie RCMP said Wednesday.

“This is a very unique incident,” he added.

The Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit confirmed the accused had previously been the subject of multiple of investigations.

Previous convictions

Court documents obtained by CTV News show Merchant was first charged with possession of child pornography in May of 2021. He was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison in March of 2022.

Documents also show Merchant was sentenced to 11 months in jail in September of 2023 for accessing child pornography. Part of his previous sentencing includes orders prohibiting Merchant from communicating with anyone under the age of 16 without parental supervision, which he is accused of breaching.

Duty counsel appeared briefly in Airdrie court on Thursday afternoon on Merchant’s behalf. He remains in custody.