Burlington man arrested after allegedly luring children on social media

Nicola Colella, 62, of Burlington can be seen above. (Toronto Police Service)

Police have arrested and charged a Burlington, Ont., man after he allegedly lured children over social media for sexual purposes.

In a release issued Friday, officers from Toronto Police Service (TPS) said they became aware of an incident involving the online luring of a child on Dec. 6.

Investigators allege a man was contacting minors on social media platforms for a sexual purpose.

According to police, the man used the usernames ‘MadeInItalyMale’ and ‘Nico Albertini’ on the platforms.

On Thursday, TPS officers arrested 62-year-old Nicola Colella and charged him with four counts of luring a child under 16 years old, one count of invitation to sexual touching, one count of attempted sexual assault, one count of attempted sexual interference, one count of transmitting sexually explicit material to a person under 16, and possession of child pornography.

Colella was scheduled to appear in court at 2201 Finch Avenue West on Jan. 12.

Anyone with information pertaining to this investigation is being asked to contact police at 416-808-8500, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), or at www.222tips.com.

KEEPING KIDS SAFE ONLINE

To protect minors on the internet, TPS offered a number of safety tips for parents and caregivers.

The force recommends setting expectations around device usage, such as drafting up a “cell phone contract” with all parties involved, or making it a house rule that devices only be used in shared spaces in the home – never in bathrooms or bedrooms.

Parents should help kids set up age-appropriate social media accounts, TPS said, and ensure they choose strict privacy settings.

They also urge parents to remind children to never share personal information, including photographs, or passwords with others.

The force suggests using child-safe search engines such as kidssearch.com and kiddle.co, and implementing software to limit and filter browsing access.

Keeping an open dialogue on internet safety and the consequences of cyberbullying and sexting can also be helpful, they said.

“Talk about who is in their safety net, who they can talk to about issues on the Internet,” TPS said. “Reassure them that you are there to protect them. Be approachable and informative – don’t be angry and judgemental.”