Edmonton man faces eight charges after using Snapchat to target and exploit two minors
An 18-year-old was arrested after using the app's location feature to track victims and coerce them into sharing explicit material.
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An 18-year-old Edmonton man faces eight charges after deliberately using Snapchat's location-tracking feature to find and exploit two minors, police said Friday.
Arshdeep Singh, who used the username "max_bxyz" on Snapchat, was arrested September 10 after a family member of one victim contacted police in August. The Investigation & Compliance Enforcement (ICE) unit of Alberta law enforcement took over the case and announced the charges Friday at a news conference in Sherwood Park.
Singh is charged with child luring, extortion, criminal harassment, making sexually explicit materials available to a child, making and possessing child sexual abuse and exploitation materials, and accessing such materials.
Using Snapchat's Snap Map feature, which displays friends' real-time locations, Singh tracked the victims' whereabouts and travelled to the home of one victim. He threatened both minors with violence against them and their families if they did not comply with demands for explicit videos and images. "In these Snapchat communications, the children faced significant threats of violence where they believed that they and their family members would be murdered if they did not comply," Staff Sgt. Alison Church of ICE said at the briefing.
The victims complied out of fear. Singh also knew the schools the minors attended and their home addresses. He had no prior police record.
Police are investigating whether additional victims exist. They're asking anyone with information or who sees the username "max_bxyz" on children's Snapchat accounts to contact them immediately. Snap Map is deactivated by default but can be enabled by users. To disable it, select the settings gear icon, go to Privacy Controls, and turn off location sharing or restrict it to selected friends.
"A case like this is the manifestation of every parent's worst fears," Church said. She urged parents to speak with their children about safe social media use and to disable location tracking.
The facts
Who was arrested and what was he charged with?
Arshdeep Singh, an 18-year-old Edmonton man, faces eight charges including child luring, extortion, criminal harassment, and making and possessing child sexual abuse materials.
How did Singh target his victims?
Singh used Snapchat's Snap Map feature, which displays real-time locations, to track two minors' whereabouts and travelled to at least one victim's home.
When was Singh arrested?
Singh was arrested on September 10, 2026.
How did Singh coerce the victims?
Singh threatened both minors with violence against them and their families if they did not comply with demands for explicit videos and images, including threats that they and their family members would be murdered.
