An Ontario man has been charged with multiple human trafficking and prostitution-related offences after being released on bail.
According to Peel Regional Police, 26-year-old Roshawn Morgan-Rose of Mississauga was charged with eight offences last week, including failure to comply with a previous release order.
Morgan-Rose’s new charges include human trafficking, receiving benefit resulting from trafficking in persons, procuring and deriving material benefit from sexual services, advertisement, and sexual assault.
Police allege that Morgan-Rose recruited a woman before exploiting her in the sex trade, from which he gained financially.
He had been released on bail at the time of his arrest for possession of a loaded firearm in a vehicle in Peel Region, noted police in a press release.
No further details have been released.
Statistics Canada released a report last month which revealed that nearly half of all human trafficking cases reported in Canada over the last decade have occurred within five major cities.
The government agency released its latest data on human trafficking in November which revealed a slight decrease in cases last year, with 570 in 2023, compared to 597 in 2022.
However, over four-fifths of all recorded cases took place in large urban areas, accounting for 45% of all human trafficking cases.
The cities with the highest human trafficking rate are Toronto (20%), Ottawa (9%), Halifax (6%), Montreal (6%) and London (4%).
While there was a dip in cases last year, the overall trend of human trafficking in Canada has been on the rise for the last ten years.
“Just over 4,500 incidents of human trafficking were reported by police services in Canada from 2013 to 2023. These incidents accounted for 0.02% of all police-reported crime during this period and represented an average annual rate of 1.1 incidents per 100,000 population,” reads the report.
“Overall, there has been a general year-over-year increase in the number of police-reported incidents of human trafficking from 2013 to 2023, with the biggest jump occurring from 2018 to 2019.”
Investigators from the Specialized Enforcement Bureau Vice Unit believe there may be more alleged victims and/or witnesses to this investigation and are urging anyone with information to contact them at 905-453-2121 ext. 3555.
Information may also be left anonymously by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), or by visiting peelcrimestoppers.ca.