The trial of a former Edmonton Police Service employee charged with sexually abusing a teenage group home resident took an unexpected turn over evidence related to a potential alibi.
Trial Begins for Ex-Edmonton Police Employee Charged with Sexually Abusing Teen
Yasin Cetin, 33, a former community relations coordinator with EPS's equity and inclusion branch, pleaded not guilty in Edmonton Court of King's Bench on Monday to child luring and sexual assault. The trial abruptly adjourned at the Crown's request on the afternoon of the first day.
Cetin is accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy in late 2023 after meeting him on a social media site. He resigned from EPS in May 2024 and was charged in March 2025.
Prosecutor David Gault told court the Crown's case focuses "almost entirely" on proving the identity of the man who abused the boy. The Crown's evidence includes a video clip the victim recorded during one of the sex acts, during which the man's face is briefly visible, as well as a selfie of a man who resembles the accused.
On Monday afternoon, however, Gault said he discovered a piece of evidence over the lunch break that could change the Crown's theory of the case "so radically" it could require throwing out a previously signed agreed statement of facts. Gault did not go into detail about the evidence but told Justice Kent Teskey defence lawyer Zachary Al-Khatib had previously informed him that the defence intends to call alibi evidence. Court adjourned for the remainder of the day.
The teenager, whose identity is covered by a publication ban, met the perpetrator on Scruff, a dating app. The conversation moved to Snapchat, where the man used the screen names qwerty3125 and BADlee.
On Dec. 3, 2023, the man picked the teen up near Russ Barnes arena and drove to a secluded area, where they engaged in sex acts. The two continued to exchange intimate videos until May 2024, according to the agreed statement of facts.
The following month, the teen told a group home staffer about his interactions with the man, which triggered the police investigation. Police examined the teen's laptop, where they found several saved Snapchat conversations, as well as the selfie and the clip of the man's face.
Investigators later sought a court order requiring Snapchat to produce data associated with the BADlee account. Snapchat complied, but the data "drew no link between the accused and the account," the agreed facts state. A subsequent production order for the email address linked with the account "was associated with a telephone number belonging to a man with no known links to the accused," the facts state.
A forensic examination of Cetin's cell phone and laptop, meanwhile, revealed nothing linking him to the BADlee account or the victim, though the phone was partially locked and investigators could not bypass the laptop's password.
