Three people have been charged and another is being sought after a teenage girl escaped from alleged human traffickers and contacted the police.
On Dec. 30, a 17-year-old girl met with two men near the area of Dundas and Yonge Streets, Toronto police said.
According to investigators, the two men provided the girl with a quantity of drugs and alcohol and took her to the Hamilton area, where she was sexually assaulted.
Police said the girl was introduced to a third man, who also sexually assaulted her, and a fourth man, who forced her into the sex trade.
In a news release issued Thursday, police said that photographs of the girl in “stages of undress” were posted on a website called Leolist.com. Investigators said the photographs advertised her sexual services.
“Video recordings of a sexual assault were also captured by one of the men,” police said in the news release. “The men controlled all the communications with the customers via text messages or phone calls and the girl was told which sexual services to provide.”
“The girl was made to provide sexual services to numerous clients and the men.”
Police said that the girl was directed to turn over all the money to the men.
In the news release, police said the girl returned to the Toronto area on Jan. 2 with one of the men. She was able to escape the following day and contact police, investigators said.
On Jan. 30, Toronto police took two men into custody in connection with the incident.
Charlton Sealy, 35, of no fixed address and Shabaka Reid, 36, of Hamilton have each been charged with numerous offences, including sexual assault, trafficking in persons under the age of 18 by recruiting and making child pornography.
An additional person was taken into custody on Feb. 15.
Deanna Passera, 27, of no fixed address is also facing numerous charges, including trafficking in persons under the age of 18 by exercising control, making child pornography and advertising another person’s sexual services.
Toronto police say they are still searching for another suspect, who they have identified as 37-year-old Troy Thornhill of Toronto. He is wanted for sexual assault as well as numerous human trafficking and child pornography offences.
Investigators said they are concerned there may be more victims.
“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,” the news release said.
Anyone with information are being asked to contact police at 416-808-7474 or to reach out to Crime Stoppers anonymously.
