'MrJetztv' videos raise exploitation concerns
Winnipeg video producer wanted on prostitution-related charges in Florida
CBC News
Posted: Jan 30, 2012 7:14 AM CST
Last Updated: Jan 30, 2012 9:18 PM CST
Signs promoting the MrJetztv YouTube channel have been posted on hydro poles and walls around Winnipeg in recent weeks. (CBC)
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Winnipeg police say they are investigating a man who has been filming young women and posting the videos on YouTube under the name "MrJetztv."
Some of the videos that Darrell Ackman, 42, has been posting since the MrJetztv channel was created on Dec. 20 have prompted some to question his intentions.
Of the 80-plus videos on the MrJetztv channel to date, some show scenes of people inside bar bathrooms, women being filmed in gyms from outside, and young women — including teenage girls — talking about the local NHL team.
Ackman, who often wears Winnipeg Jets gear and carries a camera with him, said he produces videos of "pretty people."
"In Winnipeg, there's a lot of very good-looking people," Ackman told CBC News.
Darrell Ackman, who produces the MrJetztv videos, told CBC News that Girls Gone Wild is one of his 'favourite things to watch.' (CBC)"I'm born here and there's multiculturalism here. Like, there's native girls … in Florida, you don't see no native girls."
Ackman can be seen flirting with some of the young women he films, sometimes focusing the camera on their bottoms or breasts.
In some videos, Ackman can be heard saying he is recording footage for the Jets, even offering women game tickets.
"It's not just about girls; I have guys on there too," he said. "But I do like girls, and I like watching things like Girls Gone Wild. It's one of my favourite things to watch."
'It needs to stop,' says youth worker
Ackman said he has permission to post the videos from the people he has filmed, but one 18-year-old woman who appears in one of MrJetztv's videos told CBC News she does not even remember the night the video was taken.
The woman, who did not want to be identified, is seen posing provocatively inside a hotel room. Ackman can be heard urging anyone who wants to take the woman to the next Jets game to contact him.
The 18-year-old said Ackman was supposed to give her a ride that night, but she does not remember what happened. She did not get home until the next morning, she said.
Jason Burnstick, who works with at-risk youth in Winnipeg's inner city, said he worries that Ackman's videos are exploiting underage girls.
"There is something severely wrong with this, and it needs to stop," said Burnstick, a youth facilitator with the Just TV project at the Broadway Neighbourhood Centre.
Winnipeg police told CBC News on Monday that the force is aware of "some questionable videos" on the MrJetztv channel.
While no arrests have been made, an active investigation is ongoing, according to police.
The Winnipeg Jets hockey team said it has nothing to do with Ackman.
Winnipeg police said MrJetztv's videos may be inappropriate, but they are not necessarily illegal.
Arrest warrant in Florida
Ackman is shown in this mugshot from the Lee County Sheriff's Office, which has an outstanding warrant for his arrest on a prostitution-related charge from 2010. (Lee County Sheriff's Office)Ackman is from Winnipeg, but spent some time living in Florida.
In April 2010, police in that state arrested Ackman in connection with an undercover investigation that resulted in two women being arrested for prostitution, according to a Lee County Sheriff's Office booking sheet.
Ackman was charged under Florida state law with deriving support from the proceeds of prostitution and transporting a person for the purpose of prostitution, according to his arrest and notice to appear document.
There is an active warrant for Ackman's arrest, according to the Lee County Sheriff's Office website.
Ackman acknowledged that there is a warrant for his arrest in Florida, but he said the charges he's facing there have nothing to do with what he is currently doing.
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