Man accused of luring Cambridge girl into prostitution
By Liz Monteiro
CAMBRIDGE — A 21-year-old man faces a charge of human trafficking after he allegedly lured a 17-year-old girl to a Cambridge hotel and used her as an escort.
Remington Needham is also charged with living off the avails of prostitution of a person under 18.
He appeared briefly in a Kitchener courtroom Monday and is scheduled to return Tuesday. A bail hearing has not yet been held. Needham remains in custody.
Waterloo Regional Police Det. Const. Graham Hawkins said the accused is not from Waterloo Region and came to the area on Nov. 21. He was arrested at a hotel on Saturday.
The teenage girl is from Cambridge.
Hawkins, who started investigating human trafficking nearly a year ago, said the more common form of human trafficking is sexual exploitation of young girls who are forced into prostitution.
The men prey on vulnerable girls, ranging from 12 to 22, and often become their pimps.
Much of the human trafficking in Waterloo Region is the domestic sex trade that occurs in motels and hotels along the Highway 401 corridor.
Girls can be brought to the region and then moved days later elsewhere.
"It is a transient crime," he said.
The teens are forced to work as escorts and can earn thousands of dollars for their pimp.
Hawkins said young girls are often lured by men who appear to have affluent lifestyles, sporting expensive clothing and cars. They prey on girls who may be vulnerable, making false promises and showering them with gifts.
"These guys are pretty good. They are smooth and make the women fall in love with them," he said. "They pretend to be their friend and protector."
Men who want to buy sex monitor websites, such as the classified advertising website Backpage.com, that list the locations of hotels women are taken to.
Police Chief Matt Torigian said human trafficking is a growing issue for police, and a full-time position was created last January to investigate these heinous crimes.
"This highlights the need to pay attention to this problem. It is prolific," he said.
In 2005, the charge of human trafficking was added to the criminal code. To date, there have only been 69 convictions of human trafficking in Canada.
In Waterloo Region, the charge was laid against a man for the first time in 2010 but was later dropped at the time of the trial.
Other forms of human trafficking include forced labour involving migrants workers and domestic workers who work as nannies.
"It's modern-day slavery," Hawkins said.
By Liz Monteiro
CAMBRIDGE — A 21-year-old man faces a charge of human trafficking after he allegedly lured a 17-year-old girl to a Cambridge hotel and used her as an escort.
Remington Needham is also charged with living off the avails of prostitution of a person under 18.
He appeared briefly in a Kitchener courtroom Monday and is scheduled to return Tuesday. A bail hearing has not yet been held. Needham remains in custody.
Waterloo Regional Police Det. Const. Graham Hawkins said the accused is not from Waterloo Region and came to the area on Nov. 21. He was arrested at a hotel on Saturday.
The teenage girl is from Cambridge.
Hawkins, who started investigating human trafficking nearly a year ago, said the more common form of human trafficking is sexual exploitation of young girls who are forced into prostitution.
The men prey on vulnerable girls, ranging from 12 to 22, and often become their pimps.
Much of the human trafficking in Waterloo Region is the domestic sex trade that occurs in motels and hotels along the Highway 401 corridor.
Girls can be brought to the region and then moved days later elsewhere.
"It is a transient crime," he said.
The teens are forced to work as escorts and can earn thousands of dollars for their pimp.
Hawkins said young girls are often lured by men who appear to have affluent lifestyles, sporting expensive clothing and cars. They prey on girls who may be vulnerable, making false promises and showering them with gifts.
"These guys are pretty good. They are smooth and make the women fall in love with them," he said. "They pretend to be their friend and protector."
Men who want to buy sex monitor websites, such as the classified advertising website Backpage.com, that list the locations of hotels women are taken to.
Police Chief Matt Torigian said human trafficking is a growing issue for police, and a full-time position was created last January to investigate these heinous crimes.
"This highlights the need to pay attention to this problem. It is prolific," he said.
In 2005, the charge of human trafficking was added to the criminal code. To date, there have only been 69 convictions of human trafficking in Canada.
In Waterloo Region, the charge was laid against a man for the first time in 2010 but was later dropped at the time of the trial.
Other forms of human trafficking include forced labour involving migrants workers and domestic workers who work as nannies.
"It's modern-day slavery," Hawkins said.
