Dorval man arrested on child pornography charges

A Dorval resident is under arrest after a one-year long investigation by the Sûreté du Québec has wound up charging him with extortion, production, distribution and possession of juvenile pornography, threats, and non-authorized use of a computer.

Daniel Lesiewicz, 27, was arrested on Tuesday and appeared at a Montreal courthouse yesterday afternoon facing 32 charges in total. His next appearance is slated for tomorrow.

"His victims were mostly 14 to 19-year-old girls, but there is some that were up to 25 years old," said Mélanie Paul, a spokesperson with the SQ.

"Investigators discovered that the suspect used a young girl's profile on the Internet and chatted with other young girls to convince them to pose naked in front of their webcams," a statement by the SQ said. Lesiewicz allegedly contacted the girls again later as a man named "Dave," demanding them to get naked again lest he post their images on websites.

The SQ also reported Lesiewicz has been sending coded e-mails to his victims that allowed him to take control of their computers, and then proceeded to intimidate them into posing naked in front of webcams. Police is currently investigating Lesiewicz's equipment in the hopes that it might reveal traces of other individuals tied to the case.

An online search of the suspect's name reveals there is a Daniel Lesiewicz involved with a start-up web network company called networkingmontreal.com, but no contact information is provided. Whether the two Lesiewicz are one and the same is not currently verifiable.

"I cannot comment on that," said Paul. "All I know is that he created an Internet website dedicated to pornography where he would make his material available."