On Sunday, November 6, 2016, members of the Human Trafficking Enforcement Team started an investigation into an alleged Human Trafficking occurrence.
It is alleged that:
- in October 2016, a 25-year-old woman met a 24-year-old man through a 25-year-old man in Montreal
- the 24-year-old man offered the woman a better life together, and promised to take care of her
- both men convinced the woman to work in the sex trade and took her from Montreal to Ottawa to Toronto
- the men posted the woman's sexual services on backpage.com
- the men demanded that she turn over all of her earnings to them
- the men used deception and false promises to exercise control over the woman's actions and forced her to comply with their demands with threats of assault
- the woman worked almost every night and turned over all the money
- on Sunday, November 6, 2016, the woman refused to work as an escort
- the 24-year-old man stole her cell phone, preventing her from contacting her family
- he then assaulted and choked her, causing her injuries which the hospital, in turn, reported to police
- on Sunday, November 6, 2016, both men were stopped near Long Sault, Ontario by the Ontario Provincial Police as they were fleeing to Quebec
They were arrested and taken back to Toronto.
Sifeddine Bilachi, 24, of Quebec, is charged with:
1) Trafficking in Persons by recruiting
2) Financial/Material Benefit Trafficking Person Over 18
3) Material Benefit from Sexual Services
4) Procuring/Exercising Control
5) Advertising Another Person’s Sexual Services
6) Assault
7) Overcome resistance by attempting to choke, suffocate
8) Theft
9) Possession of Proceeds of Crime
Nacim Hamouni, 25, of Quebec, is charged with:
1) Trafficking in Persons by recruiting
2) Financial/Material Benefit Trafficking Person Over 18
3) Material Benefit from Sexual Services
4) Procuring/Exercising Control
5) Advertising Another Person’s Sexual Services
6) Possession of Proceeds of Crime
They appeared in court at Old City Hall on Tuesday, November 8, 2016, 10 a.m.
Police would like to encourage all affected individuals to come forward and report Human Trafficking occurrences to police. We want to make sure that everyone has access to support services and an exit strategy, regardless of their decision to proceed criminally.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-7474, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), online at
www.222tips.com, or text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637). Download the free Crime Stoppers Mobile App on iTunes, Google Play or Blackberry App World.
Human Trafficking means every person who recruits, transports, transfers, receives, holds, conceals or harbours a person, or exercises control, direction or influence over the movements of a person, for the purpose of exploiting them or facilitating their exploitation, for a sexual purpose or a forced labour purpose. Victims can be men, women or children; can be Canadian citizens; and can be moved across local, provincial or national borders. They can be coerced through violence or the threat of violence against family and friends. The Human Trafficking Enforcement Team of Sex Crimes is dedicated to investigating these crimes against vulnerable members of society. For more information, please visit the Sex Crimes website.
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