27 Arrests Made In Prostitution Investigation
Cape Breton Regional Police Chief Peter MacIsaac confirmed today that a raft of charges have been filed in a major prostitution investigation. The Cape Breton Post reported on the case over the weekend, quoting sources who said that over 25 people had been charged. Police have now released a list of 27 men who were charged with obtaining sexual services after a seven-day investigation involving a hundred men and 35 women. The investigation saw officers posing as prostitutes in downtown Sydney as part of an undercover sting operation, on which details weren’t expected to be released for another two or three weeks. Speaking after the police commission meeting today, MacIsaac thanked downtown business owners for their patience, after he said earlier this year that he’d form a task force to address prostitution—something that business owners said was becoming a problem. The charges are being brought under Ottawa’s new prostitution laws, in which the buying of sex is illegal but its selling is not. The Harper Government brought in the new legislation after the Supreme Court struck down Canada’s old prostitution laws in December of 2013. All of the accused have been released from custody and are due in court on October 5th.