A screenshot of the moment Cory John Lloyd realized he wasn't meeting a 14-year-old boy for sexual purposes. (Justin Payne/YouTube)

By Ian Holmes

Guilty plea

VIDEO: Man busted after child luring sting in Nanaimo

Oct 29, 2021 | 2:17 PM

NANAIMO — A man intending to meet a 14-year-old boy for a sexual encounter outside a busy Nanaimo mall was instead greeted by a high-profile vigilante pedophile hunter.

Cory John Lloyd, now 41-years-old, entered a guilty plea on Friday, Oct. 29 to one count of arranging to meet a child to commit a sexual offence.

The offender, 38-years-old at the time of his disturbing behaviour, reversed course and changed his plea to guilty, cancelling a provincial court trial scheduled to begin on Monday, Nov. 1.

A YouTube video published by well known pedophile hunter Justin Payne detailed several months of phone and Skype conversations in which Payne posed as a 14-year-old boy named Christopher.

The footage viewed more than 170,000 times includes graphic propositions by Lloyd explaining various sexual acts he planned to carry out with the boy.

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The video series concluded with Payne confronting a visibly deflated Lloyd who agreed to an in-person meet-up outside Woodgrove Centre on January 20, 2019.

A judge ordered a pre-sentence report during Lloyd’s brief court appearance on Friday.

Court was told Lloyd is currently meeting with a private psychiatrist who will be tasked with providing a risk assessment for the court’s consideration.

Lloyd’s offending relates to correspondence between Oct. 25, 2018 and Jan. 20, 2019.

An agreed statement of facts will be revealed and sentencing to occur likely in the new year.

Payne, who now resides in Ontario, produced a series of videos while living in Nanaimo profiling alleged child lurers in the Harbour City.

This marks the second Nanaimo based bust by Payne to lead to a conviction.

A prior video sting nabbed Raymond Dewell, who was convicted of sex offences against two underage girls in Nanaimo, jailed for two years and placed on the National Sex Offender Registry for life.

Videos by Payne, described by Crown Counsel in Dewell case as high quality and extremely helpful, also featured Payne using a disguised voice.

NanaimoNewsNOW profiled Payne in 2019, whose vigilante videos are praised by many but are widely discouraged by police due to concerns of personal safety and potentially jeopardizing investigations.

He clearly identifies himself as a minor on dating sites while connecting with alleged unsuspecting pedophiles.

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ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes