Burnaby man sentenced to nearly 3.5 years for cross-Canada sextortion

A Burnaby man who sexually extorted teenage victims across Canada was sentenced to just under three and a half years in jail on Oct. 14, his 22nd birthday. B.C. Provincial Court Judge Jennifer Oulton accepted a joint sentencing submission from Crown and defence counsel. She said Jelassi’s online messages to girls whose sexually explicit photos he had obtained and from whom he demanded money were “insulting, demeaning and hostile.”

Jelassi pleaded guilty last December to extorting eight victims between Oct. 14 and Nov. 8, 2022, and a ninth between Dec. 22 and 25, 2023. He also pleaded guilty to secretly recording sexual activity (voyeurism) on Dec. 22, 2023; distributing child pornography from Oct. 17 to 30, 2022; and publishing intimate images without consent from Oct. 14, 2022, to Jan. 23, 2023. He admitted breaching an undertaking on Dec. 22, 2023, by using a device to communicate with someone under 18 in violation of his release conditions.

At a sentencing hearing Wednesday in Vancouver Provincial Court, Crown prosecutor Margaret Mackie said Jelassi was 18 when the offences began in October 2022. The court heard that several teenage girls in Ontario and Quebec reported being extorted online after sharing sexually explicit images with someone they met on social media platforms. Crown counsel said Jelassi then demanded up to $200 and threatened to send the photos to the girls’ friends, followers or schools if they did not pay.

In an agreed statement of facts, Mackie detailed messages between the victims and Jelassi. When a 17-year-old Ontario victim said she did not have money to pay him, Jelassi wrote: “I’m about to ruin your life until all your family sees you nude.” The court heard that he shared seven intimate images of her with her friends on Instagram; nude photos of her were later sent to a porn website. Another 17-year-old Ontario victim received a message demanding $200 within 24 hours or threatening to send her images to her followers and school. “I swear I’m messing up your life and this won’t be the only time,” Jelassi wrote. “You’re not graduating this year…no university will accept a ho.”

Several victim impact statements were submitted and read in court by Crown counsel. “I was in fear every day,” wrote a 15-year-old victim who transferred $100 to Jelassi. She said he posted her address, name and phone number online. A 16-year-old in Quebec wrote that she was afraid to go out or to school because someone might have seen her photos. She said she now has trouble trusting people and that the crime disgusted and deeply wounded her.

A cross-country investigation led by Burnaby RCMP’s Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Unit identified Jelassi as a suspect. In January 2023, police executed a search warrant at his family’s home in Burnaby and seized a phone, laptop and USB device. Jelassi was arrested and released on an undertaking. The court heard that he was arrested again in September 2023 and released ahead of a May 2024 court date. Mackie said he was arrested a third time in March 2024 and charged with two breaches before being released on an order with conditions.

When Jelassi was charged with 23 offences in July 2024, RCMP said he was subject to several court-ordered conditions, including not contacting anyone under 16 and not accessing TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Bumble or Tinder. The judge said his continued criminal behaviour despite three arrests and being bound by police undertakings was an aggravating factor, as were the number and ages of his victims. Eight of the nine victims were under 18.

Oulton noted that in two cases Jelassi posed as a concerned parent and emailed the victims’ schools with false allegations that the girls had tried to send intimate images to the parent’s “child.” He then called for the girls to be expelled. The court heard that nude images were emailed to the school attended by a 15-year-old Quebec victim after she could not meet a demand for $50 to $200. Jelassi, posing as a mother, contacted the school with false allegations that the girl had circulated the images. Prosecutors said he told her she would “never be free” unless she met his demands.

Oulton said Jelassi’s guilty pleas, lack of a criminal record and young age were mitigating factors. Defence lawyer Guillaume Garih said Jelassi experienced culture shock after arriving in Canada from Tunisia and settling permanently in Vancouver at 15. Garih said his client became addicted to social media and dating websites. Jelassi declined to address the court; Garih said he was deeply remorseful and recognized that the victims did not deserve what happened to them.

Jelassi was ordered to remain on the sex offender registry for 20 years, or until he is 42. The judge said she expects him to complete sex offender treatment in prison. Oulton also agreed to a forfeiture order for a seized laptop and two cellphones, which the Crown said contained child pornography and child sexual images.