FBI tip leads to the arrest of Calgary man for sextortion

2025| Calgary

Calgary… ALERT’s Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit has charged a 21-year-old with child sexual exploitation offences following an investigation into the sextortion of a California teen.

ICE was contacted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) in May 2024 after learning that a Calgary man allegedly asked the teen for sexually explicit images and videos, and then began threatening to share them online. The FBI became aware of the threats in December 2023.

ICE executed a search warrant at a home in the Beltline neighbourhood on January 7, 2025 with help from the Calgary Police Service. Seung Chung was arrested and several electronic devices, including two iPhones, were seized. A full forensic analysis is being completed on the devices.

Chung has been charged with the following:

make child pornography;
possession of child pornography;
make explicit material available to under 18;
make explicit material available to under 16;
luring of a child under 18;
luring of a child who is under 16; and
extortion.

“Sextortion is blackmail and we know it can have a detrimental impact on a young person’s mental health and self-esteem, which is why we act quickly in these investigations. It’s crucial that children and teens understand that they are the victim, and to get help before complying with any demands,” said Staff Sgt. Mark Auger, ALERT ICE.

According to the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, their agency receives an average of seven sextortion incidents reported daily, and more than 2,600 reports annually.

Chung was released on a number of court-imposed conditions and is awaiting his next court appearance, scheduled for February 11, 2025.

If you suspect a child is the victim of sextortion, the ICE unit recommends you:

immediately stop all communication;
take screenshots of the conversation and the profile;
do not comply with the threat;
report the threat to the social media platform; and
keep the correspondence.

For more information about sextortion, visit our website.

Anyone with information about this investigation, or any online child exploitation situation, is encouraged to contact local police or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at crimestoppers.ab.ca.

ALERT was established and is funded by the Alberta Government and is a compilation of the province’s most sophisticated law enforcement resources committed to tackling serious and organized crime.