Local police help 7 stuck in sex trade

Province-wide investigation led by OPP leads to 25 arrests, helps 16 people out of human trafficking

WATERLOO REGION — An Ontario Provincial Police investigation into human trafficking led to the arrest of 25 people and also helped 16 young people get out of the sex trade.

Over a six-day period, police arrested 25 people across Ontario and other provinces in the national campaign referred to as Operation Northern Spotlight. The FBI in the United States was also involved.

There were 36 police services involved in the investigation and the arrests, including Waterloo Regional Police. None of the arrests were made in the region.

The 67 charges included trafficking in persons under 18, procure sexual services, exercise control, child luring, possess child pornography and advertise another person’s sexual services.

During the investigation local police assisted seven females who were working in the sex trade. Staff Sgt. Eugene Fenton, head of criminal intelligence, said one of the seven is 17 years old. Local police identify the seven as victims even though none of the women said they were being used.

“The general concern with human trafficking is that females are procured and forced into a situation where they provide sexual services for money, but most often (are) not getting the money,” Fenton said.

Police say human trafficking involves girls, sometimes 16 or younger, who are coerced into sex with up to 15 men a day in hotels by their pimps. They are forced into prostitution and trafficked by pimps in hotel rooms across the province.

Fenton said often the vulnerable girls may have run away from home or live in group homes and connect with the men at bars or through social media.

“They are enticed into a relationship and promised material things such as clothing or gifts,” he said. “Once they are in the situation, they are given illicit drugs.”

“They find themselves trapped in a cycle of control that they find difficult to get out of,” he said.

Fenton said during the investigation, which was the fifth similar operation, those arrested in one city were known to officers in other cities.

“It’s a transient crime. The offender easily moves the victim from city to city, night to night, to avoid detection,” he said.

Fenton said local officers worked in a team with the Kitchener office of the RCMP and with officers from St. Thomas police.

Locally, one officer is dedicated to investigating human trafficking. In January, there will be two officers, Fenton said.

Although police worked together in the operation, a more formalized provincial strategy is needed to co-ordinate investigations.

An Ontario-wide strategy would allow for tighter regulations on web services offering the sexual services, more access for officers to be able to reach users and subscribers of online ads for young girls, and education of hotel owners to recognize men who book rooms for young girls.

“They find themselves trapped in a cycle of control that they find difficult to get out of.”