Riverton man charged after sending sexual messages to ‘juveniles’, meeting them at Joondalup shopping complex

A 31-year-old Japanese student accused of using social media to send sexualised messages to what he thought was a child has been denied bail and will remain behind bars. Tsuyoshi Tanaka allegedly used Snapchat to communicate with two juveniles who posed as a 14-year-old boy between September 1 and 7. The pair allegedly convinced Mr Tanaka to meet up at Lakeside Joondalup on September 7, where they recorded him and posted a video of him on TikTok. After arriving back in Australia from overseas, Mr Tanaka was charged on Thursday with one count of intending to procure a person believed to be under 16 years old for sexual activity. Mr Tanaka faced Perth Magistrates Court late on Friday where the magistrate denied bail due to him being a flight risk and the “strong” evidence against him. In a statement, WA Police said it appreciated “community assistance in reporting alleged criminal activity and information from the public is instrumental in identifying and disrupting criminal offences, but it must be done safely and lawfully”. “WA Police strongly discourage the community from taking the law into their own hands or engaging in any behaviour that could put them at risk,” a spokeswoman said. “Police are specifically trained and equipped to respond to reports of all crime, and individuals or groups are putting themselves in harm’s way by attempting to take action against alleged offenders. “WA Police actively seek out online child predators and urge anyone with any information relating to someone being abused, particularly if they have user/profile names and details of the platforms being used, to contact police on 131 444, or report the information via the anonymous Safe2Say online reporting platform at wa-police-force-sex-crime.safe2say.com.au/report.”