A Canadian man accused of posing as teen idol Justin Bieber and coaxing a young girl to perform sex acts online may have victims in up to five countries, authorities in Canada and the US say.
Lee Moir, 34, is already facing a slew of child pornography charges in connection with his alleged interactions with a 12-year-old girl from New Jersey, but officials in that state suspect his activities had a much wider scope.
"It is an ongoing investigation for us, but we believe that there may be other victims both in the United States and beyond," Essex County prosecutor spokeswoman Katherine Carter said.
He is believed to have been in contact with young girls in Australia, Canada, France and the Philippines, she said, adding there have been no charges laid in connection with those alleged contacts.
Moir is already facing a raft of charges in Canada since being arrested on April 4.
Toronto police allege Moir impersonated Bieber - a pop sensation with a fiercely loyal following among teenage girls - and convinced a 12-year-old victim to film sexual acts on her web cam.
Moir repeatedly threatened to harm the victim's family and post her image to pornographic websites, police allege. None of the allegations have been proven in court.
Authorities say Moir was arrested while trying to meet up with an undercover Toronto police officer posing as a 14-year-old girl.
Constable Victor Kwong said Moir is facing a total of 10 charges, seven of which involve the New Jersey victim. Those include two counts of luring, invitation to sexual touching, making, possessing and distributing child pornography, and extortion. The sting operation resulted in a third count of luring as well as two counts of attempt exposure to a person under 16.
Police said Moir is believed to have operated under a number of fake Facebook profiles, including Lee ONeel, Justy.beber1 and Yodayoda001.
