This is surreal, to say the least."A 37-year-old Winnipeg man has been accused of befriending a 16-year-old girl from Singapore while playing an online video game — then repeatedly raping her and taking explicit nude photos after she came to Canada," reports Mike McIntyre in Winnipeg Free Press.
The alleged rape did not take place until two years later, until after the teen and her mother had moved to Canada and started living with James Brian Stephenson in his condominium unit.
The two first met in 2012 in an online game when she was 16 and he was 35. They got "married" in that virtual world, according to the report. Discovering mutual interests and compatibility, she flew to Winnipeg in April 2014 — shortly after turning 18 — with her mother.
That's when Stephenson proposed marriage. The mother gave her blessings."It was during this visit that the pair apparently got engaged and did a 'ceremonial celebration of marriage' which they captured on video," according to the report. "The Free Press has viewed that video, which includes Stephenson on bended knee proposing to the teen, and her mother giving both of them her blessing while warning Stephenson to take good care of her daughter."
The daughter then flew back to Singapore, with her mother, to finish her studies. They both returned to Winnipeg months later and started living with the man.
"That’s when police allege Stephenson began victimizing the teen. Stephenson repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in his previous interviews with the Free Press," according to the report.
Photo: www.tourismwinnipeg.com
This is surreal, to say the least."A 37-year-old Winnipeg man has been accused of befriending a 16-year-old girl from Singapore while playing an online video game — then repeatedly raping her and taking explicit nude photos after she came to Canada," reports Mike McIntyre in Winnipeg Free Press.
The alleged rape did not take place until two years later, until after the teen and her mother had moved to Canada and started living with James Brian Stephenson in his condominium unit.
The two first met in 2012 in an online game when she was 16 and he was 35. They got "married" in that virtual world, according to the report. Discovering mutual interests and compatibility, she flew to Winnipeg in April 2014 — shortly after turning 18 — with her mother.
That's when Stephenson proposed marriage. The mother gave her blessings."It was during this visit that the pair apparently got engaged and did a 'ceremonial celebration of marriage' which they captured on video," according to the report. "The Free Press has viewed that video, which includes Stephenson on bended knee proposing to the teen, and her mother giving both of them her blessing while warning Stephenson to take good care of her daughter."
The daughter then flew back to Singapore, with her mother, to finish her studies. They both returned to Winnipeg months later and started living with the man.
"That’s when police allege Stephenson began victimizing the teen. Stephenson repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in his previous interviews with the Free Press," according to the report.
Photo: www.tourismwinnipeg.com