Moncton Youtuber denies Fredericton sex crimes
Stephen Blackwood, 37, was arrested after police received complaints of a man video-recording children in hotel pools, subsequently charged with crimes in Moncton area
A Moncton man known for approaching kids to get them to dance for his popular Youtube channel has denied charges alleging sexual crimes against a minor in Fredericton last fall.
Stephen Blackwood, 37, of Burlington Avenue in Moncton, appeared in Fredericton provincial court by video-conference from jail Tuesday to answer to three charges.
He elected to be tried in provincial court and pleaded not guilty to Nov. 10 counts of sexually assaulting an underage complainant and touching that same minor for a sexual purpose, as well as a Nov. 10 charge of assaulting a different minor.
Upon hearing that the court was scheduling trials in the late summer for defendants on remand, Blackwood asked for earlier dates.
“I was hoping for a speedy trial because I am in custody,” he said, pushing for trial dates in May or June. “I have no criminal record.”
Judge Cameron Gunn said the court’s docket is busy, and August was the earliest it could accommodate trials in the short term.
He scheduled the trial on the sexual assault and sexual interference trial for Aug. 11, and the assault trial for Sept. 1.
In a news release issued late last year, the Fredericton Police Force said officers were dispatched to four hotels in the city “after several complaints were received of a man videotaping children in the pool areas of the various hotels” in early November.
Blackwood was arrested at that time and charged with the three counts, and he was released on conditions.
He was arrested again by the RCMP in Moncton in early December on a charge of breaching conditions imposed as a result of the Fredericton arrest, but he was released again.
But the Codiac detachment of the RCMP in Moncton issued another release in early February, advising of another arrest and Blackwood’s continued detention.
“On Feb. 2, 2023, Stephen Blackwood appeared in Moncton provincial court and was charged with sexual assault and sexual interference in connection with an incident at a school in November 2022,” the RCMP release said, noting the defendant was remanded pending a bail hearing.
“Police are continuing to investigate to determine if there were other victims.”
Public alerts were issued in Newfoundland and Labrador as well, where Blackwood once worked with children as a substitute teacher.
Blackwood has yet to go through bail hearings on the various charges, as defence counsel have asked repeatedly for those proceedings to be postponed, waiving the defendant’s right to a bail hearing within three days of his initial detention.
Also known by his Youtube handle “Blamzooka,” Blackwood is a popular Youtuber with about 30,000 subscribers. His channel features videos that sometimes focus on him playing video games such as Fortnite, but they also depict him visiting pools and water parks where he approaches children to get them to dance.
You can contact Don MacPherson at ftonindependent@gmail.com.
I really don't think we can fix a pedophile ever. So what do we do with them ? This man has hurt children and more then once as we can see from his behavior and charges. "Public alerts were issued in Newfoundland and Labrador as well, where Blackwood once worked with children as a substitute teacher." We need to do better for our children and think of the public safety before this guy get's out of jail. IDK -- Thanks Don and lets see what happens next.