Man brutally assaulted after being accused of child luring on social media

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A 20-year-old man was brutally beaten, bear-sprayed, and hit by a car in Dawson Creek after being accused of attempting to lure children on Facebook.

On July 12th at about 9:45 p.m., Dawson Creek RCMP received a report that a man was being targeted and attacked by vigilantes near a local business on the Dangerous Goods Route.

The next morning at around 6:45 a.m., police said they got another report stating that the man was being assaulted at the intersection of 225 and Highway 97 South in Arras.

Investigators determined that the victim was the same man from the previous report, and he was transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

RCMP said they are actively investigating these incidents, adding that initial information shows that the man was targeted because of unsubstantiated rumours posted on social media.

Police won’t release the name of the victim, but Cpl. Alex Bérubé said that, to his knowledge, the victim had no charges against him.

A man from Grande Prairie claims the man attempted to lure his daughter from his property. A video of the victim being pepper sprayed has also surfaced in the past few days.

Many comments on social media are congratulating the perpetrators of the assault, stating their discontent with the Canadian justice system, despite a lack of evidence of the man’s guilt.

Energeticcity.ca reached out to the Grande Prairie RCMP and the man accusing the victim of child luring but did not receive a response by publication time.

Anyone with information on these incidents is asked to contact the Dawson Creek RCMP at 250-784-3700.