Mounties are asking possible victims to come forward after charges of child luring were laid against a former Navy cadet volunteer from North Vancouver.
Victor Overfield, 27, was arrested in December and charged with one count of luring a child and one count of invitation to sexual touching, according to Surrey RCMP.
“We can say that it is an underage female, but at this point in time we cannot limit our investigation to a gender or specific age group and we’re looking for any other potential victims,” said Surrey RCMP Cpl. Bert Paquet.
He has since been released from custody but is prohibited from making contact with his alleged victim and other young people.
Overfield volunteered with the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets in North Vancouver from 2007 to 2012, and with the Navy League Cadets in Vancouver from 2012 until his arrest in December 2014, police said.
According to their respective websites , the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets is a program “dedicated to the training of youth in the North and West Vancouver area” for those between 12 and 18 years old, while Navy League Cadets is geared toward youth aged 9 to 12.
The Navy League said Overfield has been suspended in the wake of the allegations, and added that all volunteers in the program are screened.
In a statement, a Sea Cadets spokesperson said that the Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces takes the charges against Overfield “very seriously.”
Surrey RCMP said the alleged victim contacted them, and is a Surrey resident.
Police are asking anyone who has further information pertaining to the charges against Overfield, as well as potential victims, to come forward by calling Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
The case returns to court Fri. March 13.
