Canadian child molester Royce Eric-Bernard Rivard would have been wise to commit his vile crimes in this country.
Instead, the 24-year-old from Winnipeg has been sentenced to 60 years in prison for molesting an Atlanta-area teenager. He pleaded guilty to four counts of child molestation and one count of enticing a child for indecent purposes, FOX5 Atlanta reported.
Officials say they nabbed Rivard when he tried to slip over the border from Canada to Michigan in April 2023. A month earlier the teen told her parents about the abuse.
“We applaud and appreciate the victim’s courageousness in speaking about her abuser,” Douglas County District Attorney Dalia Racine said in a statement.
“Too often these incidents go untold, leaving the victims to suffer in silence. We appreciate the efforts of our law enforcement partners and our team to stand up for this victim in court.”
According to cops, the 14-year-old victim told her parents she met Rivard on a social media site before he travelled from Manitoba to meet her in Atlanta in the summer of 2022.
Rivard then groomed the teen, using the girl’s interest in celebrities to capture her trust. He also rented an Airbnb in Douglas County where he sexually molested the girl.
When the girl tried to sever the relationship, Rivard threatened to spread false information about her and her family. Ominously, he told the victim he knew where her relatives lived and worked. Rivard also carried a fake gun.
Meanwhile, in Porter County, Ind. state troopers have arrested a Canadian man — believed to be from the GTA — in a massive cocaine bust.
Cops say truck driver Nasseb Chisty, 49, has been charged with dealing cocaine and possession of cocaine. The coke was found stashed in his semi.
Chisty was stopped at the eastbound I-94 scales for a motor carrier violation around 9:30 a.m. on Monday. After stopping Chisty, troopers said their K9 did a free air test and alerted them to Chisty’s semi.
Following a search of the vehicle, troopers allegedly uncovered 123.9 kilos (around 273 lbs.) of white powder. Troopers conducted a field test on the powder and said it came up positive for cocaine.
Chisty was arrested and taken into custody. He is currently being held at the Porter County Jail.
In August, Juli Sabosan Sathiaseelan, 42, was arrested after U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations discovered the cocaine around 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 1 at the Blue Water Bridge.
Investigators seized a motor-mouthed 266 pounds of blow from Sathiaseelan’s semi truck in Port Huron.