He was charged three years ago, but only now are details emerging regarding a Kelowna man who was trying to lure young women into the sex trade.
Court in Kelowna heard how the man was using social media to find his victims. Now he says he’s sorry.
It was four years ago when the name Simon Rypiak first came to the surface. It was in 2015 when Kelowna RCMP said that Rypiak may have tried to coerce up to nine women into the sex trade — some as young as 15.
In the end, only four victims came forward, but that was enough to prosecute Rypiak on several prostitution related charges.
In sentencing arguments on Tuesday, the crown said Rypiak would find his victims on the popular online dating site Plenty of Fish.
WATCH BELOW (Aired Nov. 10, 2015): B.C. pimp sentenced to 23 years in human-trafficking case
In 2015, he met an 18-year-old woman in West kelowna and groomed her into becoming a prostitute, with all of the earnings going to Rypiak. He had set a quota of $1,000 a day and she worked nearly seven days a week.
The crown estimates the woman gave Rypiak $100,000 while she worked as an escort for him.
The crown says Rypiak groomed three other women, convincing them to become prostitutes and move to Kelowna. One was from Saskatchewan, the other from Edmonton while the third was from the South Okanagan.
WATCH BELOW (Aired Jan. 17, 2019): Woman jailed four years for luring 16-year-old girl into prostitution
But Rypiak’s plan fell apart when one of the women went to the police and told them everything. Rypiak pleaded guilty to some of the charges while the others were dropped.
In victim impact statements, one woman says she feels dirty and damaged. Another said she can no longer be touched while yet another said she feels broken.
The defence says Rypiak is sorry for what he did and wrote a letter of apology to all his victims.
The crown and defence came to a mutual agreement that Rypiak should serve four years.
He’ll be sentenced at a later date.