Man pleads guilty to 11 charges related to child sexual assault investigation

Imesh Ratnayake, 21, in a photo provided by Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT.)

An Edmonton man has pleaded guilty to 11 charges related to a child luring and sexual assault investigation.

Imesh Ratnayake was arrested in July 2022 and charged with 19 offences, including sexual assault, sexual interference and making and transmitting child pornography.

In December 2022, he was charged with 18 additional offences, including sexual assault, luring a child and obtaining sexual services for consideration from a child.

The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team alleged that Ratnayake lured six children between the ages of 11 and 13 through Snapchat and bribed them with things like vapes, cannabis and alcohol for sexual acts.

They were looking to speak with about 100 children who they believed might have been lured by Ratnayake.

On Aug. 20, Ratnayake pleaded guilty to 11 of 37 charges against him – six charges of child luring, two charges of sexual interference, one charge of extortion, one charge of distribution of child pornography and one charge of making child pornography.

A sentencing hearing has been set for Nov. 15.