By Marc Lostracco

Each week, Torontoist chooses the most interesting cases from the Toronto Police Service crime blotter. All charges are alleged until proven under law.
When the police weren’t busy trying to manage opening and closing the Gardiner a bunch of times after the Great CN Tower Ice Incident of 2007, they had their hands full with some skeezy characters this week.
• The Fraud Squad is in full-effect these days with yet another charity fraud arrest. On Monday, 53 Division charged a 40-year-old man for collecting money door-to-door in Rosedale for a charity that doesn’t exist. The man has allegedly been operating his scheme since September 2004 under the fictitious organization “Violence Against Kids” (what?). The alleged perp was smacked with a whopping 378 fraud counts.
• On Tuesday, officers arrive at an apartment on Chalkfarm Drive and find a 13-year-old boy suffering from stab wounds to his chest and throat. The boy was treated at hospital for life-threatening injuries, allegedly from an argument over beer. The 19-year-old suspect fled on foot and is now facing attempted murder charges. Following the incident (and a barrage of recent violent crime in the area), The Globe and Mail called Chalkfarm Drive, near Jane and Wilson, one of the worst neighbourhoods in the city. Police underscore the importance of community co-operation to help them curb gang activity.
• A 30-year-old man with the online handle of “pringletoronto” was arrested and charged following an online luring investigation by the Child Exploitation Section of the Toronto Police’s Sex Crimes Unit. The man allegedly had explicit conversations with an undercover cop who was posing as a 13-year-old girl, and arranged a meeting where he was subsequently nabbed. The man also operated under the alias “Mark Andrew” (nothing like his real name) and is known to travel throughout Canada and the U.S. for employment purposes.
• An acting teacher and owner of the Actors In Motion studio was arrested and charged under allegations that he sexually assaulted a 20-year-old woman. The assault was alleged to have taken place in the studio at Leslie and Lakeshore.
• In other bad teacher news, Crime Stoppers received a tip about an alleged inappropriate sexual relationship between a high school teacher and her student. The teacher was arrested and charged with sexual exploitation involving a minor, and she has been released with conditions not to go near the school.
Anyone with information on the crimes listed above is asked to contact police at 416−808−2222 (non-emergency), or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416−222−TIPS (8477) or online at www.222tips.com. Photo by GunnerX of Flickr. Some data are based on preliminary information and may not be verified. Crime classifications may change at a later date.