Police investigated central figures in St. John's exploitation case for human trafficking
Search warrant documents show RNC probed recruitment tactics
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.
Recruitment and intimidation tactics described
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.
The complainant told police Humby specifically asked for boys between the ages of 12 and 16.
According to Cotter's affidavit, two workers with group homes in St. John's told police over the past year that they believed there was a recruiting scheme, in which underage boys would be responsible for finding other boys to bring to the trailer park between 2019 and 2022.
The mother of an underage complainant told social workers she believed her son was asked to be part of this recruiting process, saying she saw messages where Humby was asking if he had any friends who could come over.
"I'll see what I can do," she said her son replied. That's according to the police account of her interview with an RNC investigator as quoted in Cotter's affidavit.
According to the ITO, investigators believe Humby and Escott exerted considerable influence over boys between the ages of 13 and 18 by plying them with drugs, alcohol and money.
The affidavit mentions several instances where intimidation played a role in the boys' decision-making.
One complainant was said to have alleged Humby threatened him with a gun, and also threatened to strangle him during sex if he didn't comply.
Humby is facing one count of uttering threats in relation to those allegations. No other threat-related or any weapons-related charges have been laid.
In the days after the first charges were laid in April 2023, another youth was said to have told his social worker he was being threatened, and seemed to be in fear for his safety.
"[Name redacted] has been receiving threats since the charges have been laid on Bruce and Tony but would not disclose who," reads an excerpt of a social worker's report quoted in Cotter's affidavit. "[He] stated he is fine but is worried about his safety."
Bar not met for trafficking charges: court documents
Human trafficking involves the recruitment or transportation of a person for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
It is an extremely rare charge in Newfoundland and Labrador. Human trafficking cases have only made it to court twice over the past 15 years. Both times, the charges were withdrawn.
There is a separate offence under Canadian law for trafficking persons under the age of 18, which is punishable by a maximum of 14 years in prison, or life imprisonment in cases that involve aggravated sexual assault.
That is the crime police believed at the outset of the investigation Humby and Escott committed, according to search warrant filings.
Police obtained statements from dozens of people during their investigation, including more than 30 who made allegations of sexual offences.
In the end, human trafficking was not among the 86 total charges laid.
Investigators concluded they were "unable to formulate reasonable and probable grounds for charges in relation to human trafficking," while noting "it will be revisited pending any further information."
Escott has pleaded guilty to a single charge of sexual interference, and is expected to enter more guilty pleas later this month, as part of a deal with the Crown.
Humby, meanwhile, has pleaded not guilty. His trial is scheduled to begin in March.
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