2 charged after teens allegedly drugged, forced into prostitution

Police arrested and charged a couple in Gatineau, Que., after at least three teenage girls were allegedly abducted, confined, drugged and forced into prostitution.

Laura Emerson, 28, and Gordon Kingsbury, 33, have been charged with counts that include confinement, aggravated assault and sexual assault, Gatineau police confirmed Wednesday.

The arrests came after a 17-year-old girl complained to police on July 25 that she had been taken to an apartment on Alexandre-Taché Boulevard in Gatineau and forced into prostitution.

The girl alleged she had left the apartment, but was brought back and sexually assaulted.

During the course of the investigation, police found another 17-year-old who alleged that the same thing had been done to her. In addition, she had been kept tethered in the apartment for a week and a half and had been forced to take crack, police said.

On Wednesday afternoon, police announced they had found a third victim.

All three were abducted near a shelter for young women in Ottawa.