London man charged trying to recruit escorts in southwestern Ontario
Just days after an Ontario court judge ruled that parts of the country's prostitution laws are unconstitutional, London police have announced a charge against a man under one of the laws that was challenged.
London police charged a 46-year-old man after they found ads in early February on LeoList, an online classified ad website, looking for women between 18 to 35 years old.
The ads promised the women would make between $600 and $1,200 a day, with no experience necessary. The ads were for jobs in London and the Windsor region.
Through text message, the person who posted the ad confirmed it was for escort work, police said. The charges were laid on Feb. 19.
"It is illegal for someone to sell the sexual services of another person. It is a situation that can often lead to exploitation and human trafficking," said Det. Cam Halliday, of the Human Trafficking Unit.
"We are concerned that there may be others who responded to these postings and have ended up involved in doing sex work for a third party as a result.
'Legal grey zone'
Procuring is the act of persuading someone to do something.
It was one of the charges successfully challenged as unconstitutional by lawyers for a London escort agency.
In his judgment on Feb. 21, Ontario Court Justice Thomas McKay called the section that prohibits procuring the sexual services of others as overly broad.
"This provision criminalizes individuals who offer advice related to health and safety and tangible efforts or advice at enhancing the safety of a sex worker without coercion," McKay wrote. "It criminalizes individuals who give shelter to a sex worker for the purpose of selling sex, even in a non-exploitative, non-coercive scenario."
Because McKay is an Ontario court judge, his ruling only applies to the case against the escort agency, but the lawyer who successfully put forth the constitutional arguments said the law now exists in a "legal grey zone."
"Justice McKay doesn't have the power to make a declaration that the laws are null and void across the country, but it means there is a grey zone," said lawyer James Lockyer on CBC's London Morning Tuesday.
"The Crown can appeal and they may do so. It remains to be seen. But until then, it's going to remain a grey zone until we have a Superior Court who makes a decision on the issue on the constitutionality of the issue."
