A high-risk sex offender who lured young boys through social media was arrested Thursday in Maple Ridge after being on the lam since the beginning of the month.
Acting on several tips, the Surrey RCMP's High Risk Target Team (HRTT) found and apprehended Jeffery Allan Goddard at an apartment complex after a "brief negotiation".
Surrey Mounties issued a warrant for Goddard's arrest Nov. 1 for breaching a probation order.
"Although we cannot disclose the techniques used to locate, track and apprehend Goddard, we can certainly say that our investigators dedicated a tremendous amount of time and energy looking for this individual deemed likely to re-offend," says Surrey RCMP Cpl. Bert Paquet. "Our High Risk Target Team is dedicated to the monitoring and apprehension of high risk offenders, and we appreciate the public's assistance in helping us find these individuals."
Described by police as an "untreated sex offender", Goddard, 23, has a history of assuming other identities - posing as a police officer, a teenage girl and a TV producer - to lure young teens, mostly boys, via the phone , Facebook and other social media. Most of his crimes were committed in Abbotsford.
He previously served a 20-month jail term after being convicted of invitation to sexual touching, communicating via a computer to lure a child, impersonating a police officer and two charges of breaching his bail conditions.
Goddard was released from prison in February 2012, and breached his conditions that summer when he again adopted an alias on Facebook – this time, posing as a landscaper – and hired two teen boys to do yard work.
He was again sentenced to jail – 180 days – and completed that term in January of this year.
After his release in January, Goddard lived in Surrey.
His probation order prohibits him from communicating with people under the age of 18, using social networking sites and any electronic device capable of accessing the Internet.
- with files from Black Press
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