TORONTO – The kingpin of a human trafficking ring will be sentenced in a Hamilton courtroom Tuesday, in what is being dubbed the biggest human trafficking case in Canadian history.
Ferenc Domotor pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to commit human trafficking, being part of a criminal organization and coercing his victims to mislead immigration in March. His 21-year-old son, as well as his wife, are facing similar charges.
A total of 19 victims were lured into Canada with promises of a new life, but instead were imprisoned in Domotor’s basement, living in horrifying conditions and forced to work for free.
In light of this case Global News.ca looks at the top five human trafficking cases in Canada.
1. April 2007
Peel Regional Police laid the first human trafficking charge in 2007, after the federal government included human trafficking in the criminal code. Jacques Leonard-St Vil was charged with luring a 20-year-old girl into prostitution and exotic dancing, forcing her to hand over all her earnings. His charges included human trafficking, assault with a weapon, procuring a person to become a prostitute and living off the avails of prostitution.
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2. August 2008
A couple in Gatineau, Quebec, faced multiple charges regarding human trafficking after being accused of confining and forcing three teenage girls into prostitution. Laura Emerson, 28, was charged with human trafficking and her partner, Gordon Kingsbury, 33, faced charges of forcible confinement and procuring prostitution from a minor.
3. October 2009
Canadian security officials seized the MV Ocean Lady, an ocean freighter, off the coast in British Columbia in October of 2009. The vessel had 76 Sri Lankan refugees on board, each of whom had paid thousands of dollars to board the ship. Four of the crew members on board were charged with organizing entry to Canada in 2011.
4. August 2010
The MV Sun Sea ship delivered 492 Tamil migrants to Victoria, British Columbia in 2010. Today most of the people aboard have re-settled in parts of B.C. and Ontario; however, only about a dozen of them have been granted refugee status in Canada. Some 14 people have been deported and more risk deportation because of suspected connections with terror groups.
5. September 2011
Savita Singh-Murray, of New Brunswick, and two Toronto residents were found guilty of helping people enter the United States illegally between May 2007 and 2009. Singh-Murray and Mohamed Yusuf were both sentenced to two years in jail; their partner received a one year sentence for his involvement. The three were also allegedly aspiring to set up a smuggling scheme involving Guyanese refugees
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