TORONTO

A 17-year-old Scarborough boy is accused of pretending to be a 15-year-old girl online and coercing at least one child to share compromising photos of himself.

But Toronto Police believe the accused may have victimized “dozens” of kids using social media.

“Victims would have thought they were talking to a cute girl,” Const. Victor Kwong said Wednesday, explaining the accused used a photo of a girl as his avatar.

The one victim police have identified was allegedly targeted for eight months beginning in September 2014, when he was 12.

Police say the teen convinced the boy to share compromising photos of himself and then distributed them.

“Often kids are too afraid to tell their parents, so they send more images to the perpetrator,” Det. Paul Krawczyk said. “Fortunately, in this case, the victim told his parents.”

The accused allegedly went by the usernames Amanda and PencilCrayons, among others, on Kik, Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram.

Police say actress Acacia “Brinley” Clark, 18, was also victimized because the accused used her image as his avatar.

He’s charged with luring a child (under 18), extortion and two counts each of distributing, possessing and accessing child porn.

chris.doucette@sunmedia.ca