Caledonia woman who pleaded guilty in sex-trafficking scheme deserves jail time, Crown says
Was Carly Creor a key player in forcing a young Brantford woman into prostitution, or was Creor herself a victim exploited by the scheme’s true masterminds?
That is one question Justice Paul Sweeny must ponder as he decides on sentencing for Creor, 30, who in January pleaded guilty to trafficking in a person and advertising sexual services.
The victim — whose identity is shielded by a publication ban — had just turned 18 when her then-boyfriend, Daniel Campbell, introduced her to Creor and Creor’s partner at the time, Dragisa Lucic, in December 2019.
The victim thought she was taking her first steps toward a modelling career. Instead, she soon found herself providing sexual services for up to 10 clients a day at various southwestern Ontario hotels, court has heard.
Creor and her co-conspirators from Caledonia kept all the money the victim earned, controlling her schedule — including when she could eat and sleep — and plying her with drugs.
Creor has admitted in court to posting advertisements and negotiating with clients, while delivering harsh messages on behalf of Campbell and Lucic when the victim overslept and missed appointments.
“She was ‘control central’ on what (the victim) was doing on a day-to-day basis,” Crown prosecutor Heather Palin from the Ontario Human Trafficking Prosecution Team told Sweeny in court on Friday.
At a previous trial, Campbell, Lucic and Joshua Hillock were convicted of human trafficking, while a fourth accused was acquitted.
As the ringleader, Campbell was sentenced to 10.5 years behind bars, while Lucic got 6.5 years and Hillock — who was essentially a driver — received a four-year prison term.
Palin said Creor’s “central” role in the conspiracy merits a prison sentence of 3.5 years, less 63 days for time served in pretrial custody.
“She was deeply entrenched in this overall scheme,” Palin said.
Court heard that along with controlling her movements, Creor berated the victim and referred to her as “the dog” in texts to her co-conspirators, a phrase defence counsel Scott Reid claimed was code, and not meant to be derogatory.
Reid asked for a conditional sentence of two years less a day to be served under house arrest, plus three years probation.
“Ms. Creor herself has been a victim,” Reid said, saying the “trauma” from alleged intimate partner violence she suffered, and her history of being abused and trafficked, “informs where she is coming from.”
Calling Creor’s guilty plea “a sign of remorse,” Reid argued sending her to jail would interrupt her progress at getting psychological help and repairing relationships with her family.
Her parents, aunt and a brother were in court on Friday.
Palin acknowledged Creor is a “sympathetic” defendant with “her own vulnerabilities,” but said the seriousness of her role “calls out for a penitentiary sentence.”
“Ms. Creor comes before the court not looking, perhaps, like your everyday pimp, (but) that’s what her conduct amounts to,” Palin said.
In a tearful address, Creor offered her “most sincere apologies” to her family, the court, and her victim.
“I’m not proud of the things I had to do while I was in survival mode,” Creor said, explaining she “didn’t feel safe” to leave the group or protest their treatment of the victim, as she was dependent on them for drugs and a place to live.
“I felt accepted and loved by this group,” Creor said.
“There won’t be a day when I don’t regret my involvement and the pain I have caused.”
Creor is scheduled to be sentenced at the Cayuga courthouse on Aug. 29 at 10 a.m.
J.P. Antonacci, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Hamilton Spectator
