Medicine Hat, Alta., police arrest local man in child luring case

The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams insignia can be seen in this undated file photo. (ALERT)

Thousands of messages were sent between a teenage girl in the U.S. and an Alberta man posing as a young boy, a police investigation has revealed.

The Medicine Hat branch of the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) says a 38-year-old man was arrested at his home on April 25 in connection with a joint investigation with U.S. authorities into child luring.

Tyler Clark is believed to have coerced a young girl into sharing sexually explicit photos with him online by pretending to be a 13-year-old boy.

Authorities say the offences date back to 2021, when the victim, who is from Tennessee, was just 11 years old.

"We're talking daily conversations that only stopped when it was discovered by the victim's parent," said Staff Sgt. Mark Auger with ALERT's Internet Child Exploitation unit in a news release.

"This further underscores the need for parents to take a proactive role in understanding what their children are doing online."

A subsequent search of Clark's home resulted in the seizure of a number of computers and devices, which are being analyzed.

He is charged with child luring, making sexually explicit materials available to a child, making child pornography, possession of child pornography and accessing child pornography.

Clark was released from custody on a number of conditions and is expected to appear in court on May 22.