A Burnaby man charged with sexually assaulting a child after allegedly luring her online has been named.
On Tuesday, Burnaby RCMP said the victim had come forward on May 7, and the local man had been charged after being investigated by the detachment’s child abuse and sexual offences unit.
“The man is alleged to have befriended the victim online, to have arranged to meet with her and is alleged to have sexually assaulted her,” the release said.
He has now been charged with sexual assault with a weapon, sexual interference, luring a child, possession of a loaded restricted weapon and using a firearm in the commission of an offence.
Citing a publication ban, police did not name the man, his age or the dates of the alleged offences, but the B.C. Prosecution Service has since identified him as Sheldon James Lowney.
The sexual assault is alleged to have happened on May 2, according to spokesperson Daniel McLaughlin, and Lowney’s first court appearance was May 11.
Lowney is scheduled to enter a plea at his next court appearance at Vancouver Provincial Court on June 25.
According to court records, a 24-year-old man named Sheldon James Lowney pleaded guilty in 2015 to two counts of sexual interference for incidents involving two 15-year-old girls, but McLaughlin wouldn’t confirm whether or not that was the same man now charged in the Burnaby case.
“Historical, archival information about former prosecutions are not matters that we confirm or provide information about,” spokesperson Daniel McLaughlin told the NOW. “I’m not saying that that’s not the person; it’s just that’s not something that we’re in the business of confirming.”
The details of the 2015 case, heard in Chilliwack Supreme Court, are outlined in a sentencing ruling by the late Justice Brian Joyce, who sentenced Lowney to 20 months in jail.
He also sentenced Lowney to two years of probation but rejected the Crown prosecutor’s submission that Lowney’s contact with minors should be limited during his probation.
“I am not satisfied that Mr. Lowney engaged in predatory conduct and I am of the view that he will likely not re-offend,” Joyce said. “I do not see the need for these restrictions.”
