PEIA 23-year-old Charlottetown man has been sentenced to four years in jail for several sexual offences involving a teenage girl.Social media is becoming a ‘feeding ground’ for predators targeting youth, Crown prosecutor warnsThinh Nguyen · CBC News · Posted: Nov 17, 2025 12:38 PM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.A 23-year-old Charlottetown man has been sentenced to four years in jail for sexual offences involving a teenage girl whom he met on Snapchat. (CBC)Warning: This story contains details of sexual interference with an underaged person.A 23-year-old Charlottetown man has been sentenced to four years in jail for several sexual offences involving a teenage girl.Zachary Stephen MacNeill pleaded guilty in August to sexual interference with someone under the age of 16 years old, making an arrangement to commit an offence with someone under the age of 16, and making available explicit material to a child.MacNeill met his young victim through Snapchat in 2024, and their interaction eventually became sexual. He was 22 at the time, and she was 14.Crown prosecutor John Diamond said the case highlights growing concerns about how young people can be targeted through social media platforms.“With the advent of… all of these social media platforms, people contact one another without actually having personal knowledge of who they’re dealing with,” Diamond told CBC News after the sentencing hearing Monday.“As the Supreme Court of Canada has indicated, it is a feeding ground for sexual predators to access young victims.”The Crown said MacNeill arranged to meet the girl in a hotel room, sent her sexually explicit material and went to her school during lunch hour. This went on over a period of four months.Early on, the court heard, MacNeill did not know the girl’s age. But when he did learn the truth, he did not end the interaction.’It is shocking because of the number of cases we’re seeing in our province,’ says Crown prosecutor John Diamond. (CBC)In January 2025, the victim’s mother complained to Charlottetown Police Services. She had believed the two were no longer in contact but found that wasn’t the case when she looked at her daughter’s cellphone and iPad. The police investigation began in February 2025.Diamond told the court this type of case is becoming increasingly common on P.E.I., pointing to a recent case in which another Charlottetown man was sentenced for using the social media platform TikTok to lure underage girls to his home and sexually assault one of them.“It is shocking because of the number of cases we’re seeing in our province,” he said.Diamond said the National Child Exploitation Crime Centre helps the RCMP to reduce the vulnerability of children to internet-facilitated sexual exploitation, but more support and updated legislation are needed.“There is policing going on, but we’re so far behind in the court system and in parliament, catching up with the advent of the social media development and where things are going,” he said.‘I will regret it for the rest of my life’Court documents say initially, MacNeill took no responsibility and was adamant that there had not been sexual contact. He acknowledged the truth only when police showed him a collection of screen shots and messages to which they had gained access.At the sentencing hearing, MacNeill read from a prepared letter, telling the court he takes full responsibility for his actions and acknowledging there was no excuse for his behaviour.He said he is “truly sorry” for the harm he caused and that “no words can undo the pain” of his actions. He described feeling “overwhelming guilt and disgust.”WATCH | Snapchat contact began series of events that led a Charlottetown man to plead guilty:Snapchat contact began series of events that led a Charlottetown man to plead guiltyA 22-year-old man has pleaded guilty to a number of sex offences against a young girl he met on the messaging app Snapchat. As CBC’s Laura Meader reports, Zachary Stephen MacNeill did have child porn and sexual assault charges stayed. “At the time of my offence, I was under significant emotional stress… My family was going through a terrible crisis,” MacNeill said.“I felt like everything in my life was falling apart. But I know no amount of stress or trauma can justify what I did. I made a terrible, selfish decision and I will regret it for the rest of my life.”MacNeill told the judge nothing like this will ever happen again. He has no prior criminal record.His lawyer, Julia O’Hanley, had no comment after the sentencing.In court, she said she is confident MacNeill can turn his life around. In addition to his jail sentence, he must stay away from the victim, and his name will be entered into the sex offender registry for 20 years.There are resources and supports available to anyone who has experienced sexual violence:Victim Services P.E.I. / Queens and Kings County: 902-368-4582; Prince County: 902-888-8218Rise P.E.I. / Phone or text: 902-218-6143P.E.I. Rape and Sexual Assault Centre / Call: 902-368-8055 or 1-888-368-8055Here is a list of sexual assault centres, crisis lines and support services elsewhere in Canada.With files from Wayne Thibodeau
P.E.I. man sentenced to 4 years for sexual offences involving teen he met on Snapchat
