In a unanimous 9-0 vote, supreme court of canada The appeals of four men charged in a child sex trafficking investigation have been rejected.
The move is being lauded by police and advocates, who say the decision will help police services across the country tackle crimes.
Darla Griswold was implicated in human trafficking in the mid-’90s, just days after her 18th birthday.
“I was put through a circuit of human trafficking throughout the United States. Then, I was smuggled into Canada,” Griswold said.
‘Throwaway kids’: allegations of human trafficking, abuse in Ontario. group home series
read more
While Griswold managed to escape, many of the victims, especially children, were not as lucky.
According to Statistics Canada, 96 percent of victims of human trafficking are women or girls. A quarter of them are under the age of 18, and most of these crimes (65 per cent) are happening in Ontario.
In 2017, York Regional Police officers carried out Project Raphael, a crackdown that led to the arrest of over 100 men who were attempting to buy children as young as 14 online for prostitution. Undercover investigators were able to catch criminals by posing as underage girls, who then agreed to meet with the suspects.
The four men appealed the charges, claiming they had been framed by the police. It went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, which last week voted to dismiss the appeals. YRP superintendent Thai Truong, who worked on the investigation, says the move is huge.
“The courts have recognized that the ability of law enforcement to fight crime and investigate crime must evolve with the digital age.”
Truong says, “It gives us a framework for how we structure our investigation and it really takes into account what we have. We have to be precise.
Chief Jim McSween shares a similar attitude toward the ruling.
“I think this is a huge win, not just for York Regional Police. It’s a huge win for policing, for law enforcement across the country,” he said.
Meanwhile, Carly Kalish with Victim Services Toronto says while the move is a step in the right direction, more needs to be done.
“There are many other tools. It’s not something that can be stopped just by police or law enforcement intervention,” she said.
“You have to address the root causes of sex trafficking, especially for minors. Address issues of patriarchy, poverty, human rights.”
For surviving victims like Griswold, she’s hoping it clears the way for police to catch more criminals.
“It’s like driving away the fog that you can have when you’re sitting behind a computer.”
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.