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Halifax man, 24, arrested for human trafficking in Toronto

Toronto police have arrested a man who they allege recruited a 17-year-old girl from Halifax and forced her to come to Toronto, work in a spa and provide sexual services to clients.

Shondell Lucas-Johnson, 24, was arrested on Wednesday following a human trafficking investigation that began in April 2015.

He faces eight charges including trafficking of a person under the age of 18 and forcible confinement.

Police allege a man destroyed the teenage victim's identification documents and gave her fake ones that falsely identified her as an adult. The accused also broke the girl's phone to prevent her from contacting her friends and family and also assaulted her, according to a police report.

The girl escaped and contacted the authorities. Halifax Regional Police arrested Lucas-Johnson in that city Wednesday, but he was brought back to Toronto for a court appearance Thursday.

Police say the accused comes from Dartmouth, N.S., and is known to them from past investigations. They say there may be more victims and are urging them to come forward.