A Justin Bieber impersonator has been arrested and charged with over 900 child sex offences.
Australian Police have urged Bieber fans and their parents to stay vigilant on the internet, after a 42-year-old Melbourne man with a history of sexual offences and ‘grooming’ minors was pretending to be the popstar online to gain indecent images of children.
According to sources, the accused used Facebook and Skype to communicate with victims, he was found with explicit images from young children in offences dating from 2007 on his computer – amounting to 931 offences.
“The fact that so many children could believe they were communicating with this particular celebrity highlights the need for a serious rethink about the way we educate our children about online safety,” said police spokesman Jon Rouse, tasked with fighting child exploitation online.
Meanwhile, Bieber himself is in the midst of an Autralian tour.
Bieber has been in headlines recently after denying that he ‘peed his pants’ in recent paparazzi photos, as well as being accused of ‘faking an illness’ so that he could miss a court disposition. The star also recently returned to Instagram, and is said to be ‘working on something special’ despite reports of a hiatus from music.
He’ll be returning to the UK this summer to play huge shows at London’s Hyde Park and at Cardiff Stadium in June and July.