Police investigated central figures in St. John's exploitation case for human trafficking
CBC
Tony Humby and Bruce Escott, two men accused of being central figures in a widening sexual exploitation case in St. John's, were suspected of using youth to recruit others to go to a trailer park to perform sexual acts for money and drugs.
A 355-page document obtained by CBC News shows the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary secured search warrants in part by making the case that Humby and Escott were trafficking boys under the age of 18.
The court filing, authored by RNC Const. Jennifer Cotter, lays out what police believed was a recruiting scheme to get older victims to enlist younger boys.
"Victims that have come forward have shown that there is a pattern created that involves younger males," the officer wrote in the affidavit, known as an information to obtain a search warrant, or ITO.
Humby and Escott are facing a combined 86 charges in relation to 13 complainants in total, spanning from 1995 to 2022. The search warrant document summarizes police statements from more than 20 others who made allegations where no charges were filed.
A provincial court judge granted a CBC News application to unseal police search warrant filings in late August. That document — which has not been tested in court — provides an account of how the RNC built the case around the two men.
Crown prosecutors were successful in blocking the release of some information, including the names of those they believed were victims of Humby and Escott as youths, but who later went on to recruit new victims after they got older.
"For the sexual assault victims and the potential sexual assault victims it must be remembered that police do not think Mr. Humby and Mr. Escott acted alone," Crown lawyer Dana Sullivan wrote in a brief to the court, filed in response to CBC's application to unseal the search warrant documents.
"People who are believed to be potential victims of one or both of these men in the past are believed to have assisted in recruiting youth to go to Humby's residence."
The affidavit alleges the recruiting scheme appeared to cause some confusion for investigators at times.
The author wrote that during an interview on Jan. 12, 2024, police cautioned a man and told him he was a suspect in the investigation. He got upset, telling police he had no involvement with sexually assaulting young boys and adding that he was molested by Humby when he was 16. He was not charged.
Police search warrant documents outline a series of allegations related to the recruitment of victims.
Cotter wrote how one complainant told police Humby began to pressure him to bring in younger boys as he got closer to 18.
He said he was offered between $150 and $1,000 — less for oral sex, and more for intercourse.
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