Convicted sexual offender speaks out after OPP issues rare public advisory

The man at the centre of a rare Ontario Provincial Police public advisory says he isn't a predator, despite having previously been convicted of sex crimes involving minors.

According to OPP, Lauriston Maloney has been convicted of charges related to trafficking and sexual offences involving minors.

In an interview with CTV News on Tuesday, Maloney called the police advisory "ridiculous."

"The OPP has been investigating for a little while, and the OPP has exhausted all avenues, and this was the final avenue to make the public aware of this situation," OPP Sgt. Jason Folz said on Tuesday.

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Maloney currently resides in Essa Township at the same address as a camp for children with autism owned by his wife, Amber Maloney.

Police claim he "has regular access to the 'Beating the Odds' children's camp."

But Maloney argued he has nothing to do with his wife's business or the children attending Beating the Odds IBI & Child Development Services.

"I have no interaction with them," he said. "For every child, there is a supervisor who watches that child individually. It's one-to-one therapy. So, no, I have no interaction with the children."

In the advisory, police said Maloney "does present a safety risk," but they did not elaborate.

"The accused person here is on the national Ontario sex offender registry and presents a danger, in our opinion, to young people," Sgt. Folz said.

In a statement to CTV News, Amber Maloney said her husband is not connected to her business.

"Yes, we share the same property address, but he does not work with these kids. He has his own job that brings him off-site and allows me to operate solely without him," she wrote.

"I'm not someone who targets children. It is ridiculous what the police are doing," Maloney said, adding he was never convicted of trafficking children.

"I was guilty of running an escort agency back in the year 2002 to 2004 when I was a lot younger, and I was convicted of those charges," he explains. "There is no sexual assault. There is no child trafficking; there is no human trafficking on my convictions."

Maloney was also convicted of sex crimes in 2013, but says the victims were not minors.

"I would be picking up women and bringing them to hotels with a company as well as collecting money and sometimes booking hotel rooms for the girls," Maloney says of his 2004 conviction. "Those charges were as a result of collecting money for the girls performing sex acts."

He does acknowledge one of the girls was a minor.

"It was in evidence that this girl provided false identification, but you're still held liable as a company if somebody even provides false ID," he said.

CTV News has requested the court documents to confirm Maloney's past convictions, but they had not been provided at the time this article was published.

The OPP says the police advisory was issued "as a precautionary measure," which Sgt. Folz said is why the decision was made to release the name of his wife's business.

"It was important to name this particular business so that parents with children who go to this camp can make an informed decision about where they want to send their children," he said.

Meanwhile, Maloney said he served his time for his past crimes, alleging the police are trying to slander his and his wife's names.

"I have moved on with my life. I mean, this is not something that I let get the best of me. I was young. I was stupid," he says. "The police know it's not a concern," adding, "So it's just ridiculous that this is how they are trying to proceed to make me look like a bad guy or make me look like some sort of predator."

Police remind the public that Maloney's rights are guaranteed under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, noting they will act to protect those rights if violated.