A cyber predator who posed as the young singer Laurence St-Martin on social networks to snatch daring photos from teenage girls was sentenced to four years in prison. It is the real singer, alerted by her young fans, who denounced the criminal to the police. She is now appealing for awareness.
“It’s so intense, what’s happening on social networks! You should never send photos [à des inconnus], even photos in pants, since you never know who is behind the screen. It is important that parents take a look, but respecting the child, ”insists in an interview the singer-songwriter, very active on social networks.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY VÉRONIQUE LABBÉ PRODUCTIONS
Singer Laurence St-Martin
Mark Major, 30, pleaded guilty to 10 counts of computer luring of a minor, extortion and identity fraud this fall at the Montreal courthouse. He was then facing no less than 23 charges. The cyberprédateur claimed ten victims in just a few weeks in the spring of 2020. Adolescent girls aged 12 to 16 from all regions of Quebec.
In one of his ploys, Mark Major introduced himself as Laurence St-Martin to young girls on Messenger. Success Island Girls the 24-year-old singer has been viewed 1.6 million times on YouTube. The cyberprédateur then said he was preparing a music video for a new song and requested photos in swimsuits or underwear from his victims, according to the summary of the facts presented by the prosecutor Me Jérôme Laflamme.
A 13-year-old teenager sent videos of a sexual nature to the Internet predator to be part of the music video and earn $ 500 or even $ 1000. But when Mark Major asked her to masturbate in front of him, the teenager refused. She then turned to her parents when the pedophile threatened to send the videos to her contacts.
Another 13-year-old teenager was also tricked by Mark Major into believing he was chatting with the real Laurence St-Martin in June 2020. In hopes of entering a swimsuit contest on Instagram, the victim gave her address to the cyberpredator, as well as nude photos of herself.
“I can make your life hell”
On other occasions, Mark Major posed as the director of a modeling agency. The cyberprédateur then asked teenagers for photos in their underwear. If they did not comply, Mark Major threatened to expose them naked on social networks by modifying their profile photos on Photoshop.
“I will not only expose you, but if you don’t listen to what I ask, I will send a virus to all your contacts and steal your data. Basically I can make your life hell, so I’ll give you a chance, ”the cyberpredator wrote to one of the victims. It was this teenager who contacted the real Laurence St-Martin.
“I have received a lot of messages from young girls. A moment, they started to take screenshots for me, I realized that it was really extortion, there was juvenile porn! I called the police. They took it seriously, ”recounts Laurence St-Martin in an interview.
The young singer, who studies social work, is keen to speak out to encourage teenage girls to be cautious on social networks. They should not hesitate to denounce pedophiles, she said. “Young girls were afraid to say it”, she illustrates. Moreover, Laurence St-Martin ensures that she would never ask for photos of her fans in swimsuits on social networks.
“Deviant impulses”
Mark Major was arrested in November 2020 while in therapy for drug addiction. He was under the influence of speed when he “left free recourse to deviant impulses”, explained his lawyer, Mr.e Hugues Surprising.
Judge Pierre Labelle endorsed a common suggestion by imposing four years of detention on Mark Major. However, he has about 30 months left to serve due to time spent in preventive detention.
“The cases where we try to exploit children for offenses of a sexual nature have in the past attracted the opprobrium of the courts and it is even more true, I am thinking in particular of the offense of luring, the ranges of sentence have been revised upwards by the Court of Appeal, ”said Justice Labelle, stressing that the settlement of the case had made it possible to prevent victims from testifying.