Pair charged with human trafficking after N.B. girl rescued from N.S. hotel

Police in the town of Bridgewater, N.S., say they have charged two people for trafficking a minor after a 16-year-old girl from New Brunswick was rescued from a hotel.

In a release, the Bridgewater Police Service said they received a 911 call from the teenager “requesting help as she did not know where she was” around 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 9.

It said she provided dispatch staff with a land description that allowed officers to find her in the parking lot of a local hotel.

“An investigation revealed that the female was from New Brunswick and had been sexually assaulted at a local hotel,” the release said. “Police also determined that she had been staying with a group of adults in other hotels across the province.”

The release said the victim was transported back to her home province of New Brunswick.

Two people — 30-year-old Bruce Nicholas Gilroy of Brookdale, N.S., and 28-year-old Chelsey Wilson from Moncton, N.B. — have been charged with the following offences:

• Recruiting a person under 18 for the purpose of exploiting sexual services;
• Receiving a financial benefit resulting from committing an offence;
• Unlawful confinement;
• Committing sexual assault;
• Administering a destructive or noxious substance.

“During the initial investigation, Bridgewater Police Service learned that there is a possibility that this matter is not isolated and may involve other communities, including in the Province of New Brunswick,” the release said.

“As such, Bridgewater Police Service has requested assistance from the Human Trafficking Unit for the Province of Nova Scotia in furthering this multi-jurisdictional investigation.”

The Bridgewater Police Service is asking anyone with related information to contact them at 902-543-2464.

Nova Scotia, one of Canada’s smallest provinces, has the highest reported rates of human trafficking in the country, according to Statistics Canada.