A months-long
investigation into human trafficking has led to the rescue of 18 women
who were forced to work in the sex trade against their will, police said
Tuesday.
Nine people are facing
33 charges, including forcible confinement, making and distributing
child pornography, assault, trafficking in persons, withholding or
destroying documents, living off the avails, uttering threats,
obstructing police and failing to comply with court orders and
conditions of bail and probation.
Ontario Provincial
Police Sgt. Peter Leone said vulnerable groups, like newcomers to
Canada, are often the targets of exploitation.
“These (18 victims)
are individuals who were preyed upon, that were very vulnerable and
certainly exploited,” he said. “A lot of promises can be made to people
if they come along, and they don’t realize until they go with them, what
they’ve gotten themselves unfortunately into.”
Twenty-six police
forces were involved in the operation on Oct. 1 and 2, including those
in Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Halifax, Quebec City,
Toronto and other parts of Ontario.
They interviewed
hundreds of women some as young as 15 since January, focusing on hotels,
motels and massage parlours along major thoroughfares in 30 cities and
towns across the country, police said. Many of the women had been
threatened with violence, extortion and drug dependency, among other
forms of coercion by men.
Ontario Provincial
Police and the Winnipeg police said in a news release that a 12-year-old
Winnipeg girl was among the people rescued during Operation Northern
Spotlight II, but Winnipeg police later said that the girl was not part
of the group.
The girl was
interviewed by police in a separate investigation unrelated to the
human-trafficking probe, said Sgt. Cam Mackid of the Winnipeg Police’s
Counter Exploitation Unit.
According to Ontario’s
Durham Regional Police Service, some of the women were being forced to
perform sexual acts multiple times a day for paying male customers.
It said it interviewed
31 sex trade workers, with an average age of 26, and investigators
believe nine were under some level of control.
“Although the Criminal
Code section refers to this activity as ‘Human Trafficking,’ the public
may better understand this issue as ‘sex slavery,’” the police force
said in a release.
“Although many of the
women appear to be making their own decisions to participate for
financial gain, investigators found several teenagers and young women
were being forced to perform through threats of violence, physical
intimidation, drug dependency and other forms of coercion.”
Part or all of the money from those sexual acts were kept by their adult male controller or pimp, it said.
Leon said police
provided the women they interviewed with information about support
agencies in their area that could assist them, Leon said.
“Hopefully we’ve made a difference in their lives and given them a fresh start as well,” he said.
Note to readers: This
is a corrected story. An earlier version had police saying a 12-year-old
Winnipeg girl was among the 18 people rescued in a human-trafficking
investigation. Winnipeg police later said that she was part of a
separate investigation unrelated to the human trafficking probe.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/10/07/girl_12_among_18_rescued_from_crosscanada_sex_trade_ring.html
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/10/07/girl_12_among_18_rescued_from_crosscanada_sex_trade_ring.html
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