Probe into Winnipeg human trafficking ring nets three-year sentence: WPS
A Winnipeg man has been sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to recruiting and directing two women to provide sexual services for hire.
The charge stemmed from a lengthy investigation by the Winnipeg Police Service’s counter-exploitation unit dubbed “Project Bluff.” Work that involved covert and undercover operations.
At a sentencing hearing for Ferosh Tailor, 34, late last month court heard he made contact with one of the women in June 2020 through a website called Only Fans where people can pay for images and videos from the owner of the account, and later recruited the second woman.
A rental property in Osborne Village was one of three apartments court heard was used by Tailor for what a Manitoba judge described during the sentencing on May 30, 2022, as a “sophisticated, well thought-out operation.”
An operation court heard involved recruiting and directing a 21-year-old woman and a 19-year-old woman to provide massages and sexual services to clients through appointments Tailor would schedule before Winnipeg police arrested and charged him with multiple offences and seized around $42,000 from a safe in his home.
“It was an unfair value for the work he did compared to what they had to do,” Staff Sgt. Maria Koniuck told reporters Friday.
Tailor pleaded guilty to one count of material benefit from sexual services. He was sentenced to three years in prison.
“That three years is very significant because you have an individual here who does not have a criminal record,” Koniuck said.
In an agreed statement of facts, the Crown told court Tailor first started interacting with the 21-year-old on her Only Fans account.
Court heard he told the woman he had an opportunity for her and she agreed to the work.
The Crown told court Tailor started arranging appointments between the woman and clients that included massages and sexual services, excluding intercourse at three rental properties.
She would leave him a cut of her earnings in the apartments, which totalled $3000.
Court heard a second woman, a 19-year-old, started working for Tailor and agreed to split her income with him and that both women were fearful of Tailor.
“We say that in the case of these two exploited individuals Mr. Tailor preyed on the complainants for his own profit,” the Crown told court during sentencing.
“We say this conduct is reprehensible and must be denounced which is why we say the three-year custodial sentence is appropriate.”
Martin Glazer, Tailor’s lawyer, told the court his client believed he was helping the women and himself make money but is now ashamed and remorseful.
“This was an illegal enterprise,” Glazer told the judge. “He went too far and for that decision he’s going to pay a heavy price today and that price is a penitentiary sentence with all the safety risks.”
Court heard Winnipeg police were granted warrants in the case to enter the apartments and observed Tailor picking up his cut of the money.
Officers also used money with pre-recorded serial numbers which were later found in Tailor’s safe.
Police said they want people to know officers are committed to protecting people from exploitation and perpetrators will be held accountable.
“I’ve seen where people who aren’t even in the sex trade are being asked to provide services,” Koniuck said. “It’s happening to youth that are just walking down the street. It’s not a victimless crime.”
Police ask anyone with information or who wishes to speak to an investigator about crimes related to procuring sexual services or human trafficking to contact the counter exploitation unit at 204-986-3464 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-8477.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.