Sudbury police zero in on sex trade johns

Sudbury Police are learning more about sex worker clients through a series of roundtable meetings that recently started in the city.

Learning more about the behaviour of "johns" is something that may shed some light on why some people buy sex.

Acting police sergeant Randy Hosken said most of the information out there right now is about the sex workers and not the buyers.

"Personally, I want to learn more about why the men are out there," he said.

"If we're going to offer help and we're going to get people to get out of that activity, we have to understand why they're in there in the first place."

The first roundtable discussion — organized by the sex worker advocacy group Project PEACE — featured insight from local psychologists who were able to shed some light onto the reasons people buy sex.

Hosken, who works on street-level prostitution for the police force, said he's already learned there can be a number of reasons why men buy sex.

"It could range from intimacy needs to power, thrill seekers … there's a variety of reasons," he said.

The discussion was the first in a series of ongoing meetings held by Project PEACE. More meetings are planned in the coming months.