After months of searching for a first suspect charged with human trafficking-related offences with no luck, London police say they’re now searching for a second suspect.
Officials have been searching for the first suspect, 28-year-old Jordan Hawke, since July.
Police issued a release on July 14 saying that an investigation had been launched after a woman reported she had been trafficked for about a year and a half. Police say she said she met the first suspect when she was 16 and “the accused began to traffic the victim in the sex trade” in Ontario after she turned 18.
Hawke was charged with nine counts, including uttering death threats, assault, causing unnecessary suffering to an animal, and trafficking in a person. On Oct. 13, police said another 23 counts have been laid in connection with “historical incidents recently reported to police.”
A second suspect was recently identified as 28-year-old Joel Joshua Ramocan of no fixed address.
Police say he’s been charged with:
- trafficking by exercising control
- financial/material benefit from trafficking a person over 18
- receiving a material benefit from sexual services
- exercising control
Anyone with further information is asked to call the London Police Service at (519) 661-5670 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
— with files from 980 CFPL’s Jacquelyn LeBel
If you believe you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, London police offer online information here. Information specific to human trafficking from the London Police Service can be found here.
Additional information, community resources and support are also available here.