Girl, 15, rescued from human trafficking operation in Toronto: Durham police

Durham Regional Police have reported the rescue of a local 15-year-old girl from a human trafficking operation in Toronto.

As part of an ongoing investigation, Durham Human Trafficking Unit officers went to York Street and Bremner Boulevard in Old Toronto on Monday. The area is just north of the Gardiner Expressway and west of Scotiabank Arena.

Investigators had come to believe a man in the area was involved in trafficking a teenage girl from Durham. Police did not share where, specifically, in the region the victim is from.

Officers found a suspect in the vicinity and arrested him without incident. They later raided a home where they reported the discovery of unspecified drugs and an unspecified amount of cash.

Shaun Fairfax, 25, of no fixed address, is charged with:

• trafficking a person under 18,
• making material benefit from trafficking a person under 18,
• making material benefit from the sexual services of someone under 18,
• advertising another person’s sexual services,
• permitting prohibited sexual activity as a householder, and
• procuring a minor for sexual services

Fairfax will remain in custody until a bail hearing. Anyone with information can call police at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 5600 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

The victim is receiving support from the Durham Police Children at Risk of Exploitation, or CARE, unit. The Ontario government contributes funding for this unit which “combines the expertise of police officers and child protection workers to identify, investigate, locate and engage with children and youth at high risk of child sex trafficking.”

Durham Region’s Human Trafficking Unit was founded a few years ago amid a steep rise in such cases.

Women and girls are the vast majority of targets for these predators at 94 per cent. Of the female victims, Indigenous women and girls are the most likely to be trafficked. However, men and boys and LGBT+ are targeted as well. Victims are targeted as young as 12 or 13, particularly those with low self-esteem, bullying, discrimination, poverty, abuse, and isolation.

A 2022 Statistics Canada report found Ontario had the second-highest rate of human trafficking per capita in the country representing 67 per cent of all cases. This is in part due to Ontario’s denser urban centres and the Highway 401 corridor, which has been noted as especially attractive to traffickers. Most are reported in the GTA with 911 incidents between 2012 and 2022, 23% of all incidents in Canada.

Per the report, four in ten (40%) incidents of police-reported human trafficking resulted in the laying or recommendation of charges. Over half (56%) of human trafficking incidents were not solved, or cleared, by police.

Durham Police provided a list of warning signs someone may be being trafficked including;

• Spending an extreme amount of time on the Internet
• ­Hiding their screen when someone enters the room
• ­Appearing scared, secretive, or agitated when answering a cell phone
• Vague talk of a new friend, but offering no further information
• ­An older boyfriend or girlfriend
• ­Being secretive about their boyfriend or girlfriend
• ­The boyfriend or girlfriend seems ‘controlling’ of the youths’ decisions
• ­New things they can’t afford (ex. new bag, hairstyles, manicures/pedicures, clothes)
• No longer seeing previous friends

They also offered plenty of local resources including;

• Durham Region Human Trafficking Coalition
• Durham Regional Police Service Human Trafficking Hotline at 905-579-1520 ext 4888
• Victim Services of Durham Region at 905 721 4226, and
• Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-833-900-1010