Canadian youth soccer coach charged with attempting to meet child for sex in US

SEATTLE — A youth soccer coach who traveled from Canada to Washington state to meet someone he believed was a 12-year-old girl for sex was arrested Tuesday afternoon by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Kuldip “Kelly” Singh Mahal, 47, of Surrey, British Columbia, made his initial appearance in federal court Wednesday. The criminal complaint filed in the case alleges Mahal answered a posting on the Vancouver Craigslist website and began communicating with an undercover HSI special agent posing as 12-year-old girl from northwest Washington. Mahal is charged with attempted enticement of a minor.

On Tuesday, Mahal, who works as a facilities manager for a Vancouver, British Columbia, tech firm, crossed the border into the United States at Blaine and headed toward the park in Burlington where he had agreed to meet the girl, about 50 miles south of the border. He was arrested at the park. Investigators have also learned Mahal is a volunteer coach for an under-16 soccer team in Surrey.

Court documents allege Mahal sent multiple sexually explicit messages and photos of himself to the undercover special agent over a three-week period. He continued to do so after being told he was communicating with a 12-year-old girl. Investigators also state in the complaint that Mahal, in lengthy sexualized chats, repeatedly requested sexually explicit pictures from the “girl.”

“Homeland Security Investigations agents work hard each day to keep our country, and in this case our children, safe from those who would do them harm,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes. “I am grateful for their hard work and that it was in fact an undercover agent, and not a vulnerable young girl that was subjected to this defendant.”

Enticement of a minor is punishable by a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years to a maximum of life in prison.

The charges contained in the complaint are only allegations.  A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 10,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2014, more than 2,300 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free tip line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.