Child-like sex dolls a ‘disturbing’ trend

WINNIPEG — Two Winnipeg men have been charged just weeks apart with possessing sex dolls designed to look like children — a new trend raising alarms for law enforcement and child-protection advocates.

A 45-year-old Winnipeg man is charged with several offences after a package containing a sex doll was intercepted by border officers in Vancouver last month, the Winnipeg Police Service announced Thursday.

The WPS internet child exploitation (ICE) unit was notified by the Canada Border Services Agency that a package destined for a local address contained a sex doll “anatomically designed to appear to look like a prepubescent child.”

When executing a search warrant at a suspect’s Fort Richmond home on Sept. 4, investigators allegedly found about 20 more female dolls ranging in appearance from newborns to early teens, along with clothes and accessories for them.

Police spokesperson Const. Dani McKinnon said the dolls were regular toys that were “graphically” altered.

“Obviously, there is a disturbing aspect to this because these dolls are very lifelike and intended to represent children and youth,” she said.

Jonathan Paul Sirski, 45, was charged with possession of child pornography; importing, distributing, selling or possessing child pornography for the purpose of distribution or sale; and making, printing, publishing or possessing child pornography for the purpose of publication.

He is alleged to have ordered several similar items between October and last month.

The accused is employed at the University of Manitoba as an instructional technologist. A U of M spokesperson said Thursday the university is aware of the arrest and the serious nature of the allegations, and the matter is under review.

Another man, 41-year-old Jeffrey Sewell, was arrested and charged with similar crimes in August after border agents intercepted a similar doll destined for his home in Silver Heights.

Police allege Sewell imported similar items and children’s clothing between December 2022 and last month.

While manufacturing child-like sex dolls is typically not prohibited in countries such as China and Japan, possessing them is banned under Canadian law. Charges can be laid if a doll used for sexual purposes even slightly resembles a child, RCMP ICE unit officer Cpl. Gord Olsen said.

“An adult sex doll is not illegal, but if it meets that visual representation or depiction of a child, that’s where it crosses the line,” he said.

Olson has seen similar cases sporadically in his 15-year career but worries the frequency is increasing.

The CBSA has intercepted 63 packages categorized as “child pornography” at the border since Jan. 1, public data show. Spokesperson Luke Reimer said sex dolls fall under the child pornography category, along with any printed or digital child sex abuse imagery.

CBSA intercepted 109 of such packages last year, 125 in 2022 and 81 in 2021. The highest number intercepted in recent years was 295 packages in 2019.

Sex offenders usually run in similar online circles and are directed to buy adolescent sex dolls through the dark web, Olson said.

“You can’t just go to Google and find a site to purchase them,” he said.

The two packages destined for Winnipeg were shipped from China, McKinnon said.

Olson said he is concerned by the trend because dolls or harmful imagery can lead to the real-life abuse of children.

“It would definitely be a precursor to potentially abusing a real child, because (a doll) just doesn’t do everything for them (sexually),” Olson said, referring to the 2003 abduction and murder of 10-year-old Holly Jones in Toronto.

Investigators found Michael Briere, who was later convicted with Jones’ slaying, watched child sex abuse imagery before abducting Jones and strangling her, then dismembering her body.

“Just looking at pictures or having a doll … they want to move on and offend against a live child,” Olson said.

Monique St. Germain, general counsel for the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, echoed Olson’s remarks.

“At some point, a doll is not going to be satisfactory,” she said.

There are only a few cases across Canada where people have gone to trial over alleged child sex dolls. A Halifax man received 18 months probation earlier this year after pleading guilty to one charge of smuggling prohibited goods.

Francois Nadeau admitted to importing two child sex dolls. One was intercepted in the mail and another was found at his home after police obtained a search warrant.

His defence lawyer, Elizabeth Cooper, said child pornography charges were laid initially but were later dropped because of issues with how the search warrants related to the case were filed.

Cooper said she expects future cases will be “nebulous” to convict because of the nuances of deciding what constitutes harmful imagery of a child and the severe criminal and personal punishment of child pornography charges.

“It could be that they want a smaller-sized doll — or, it could be pedophiles that are ordering a child-like sex doll,” she said. “It is quite difficult, because that’s the reality. You’re sending somebody, if they can be convicted, to jail over a piece of foam.”

The definition of child pornography is broad under the Criminal Code, she said, and lawyers will have to prove intent beyond the doll itself.

“Of course, child pornography is repugnant to people, but the idea of sending somebody to jail because they have a doll, I think judges probably will have some difficulty with that,” Cooper said.

» Winnipeg Free Press