Accused paid with drugs to lure teens into sex ring: RCMP

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This article was published 09/07/2024 (454 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Long Plain First Nation woman is accused of befriending and luring teens into a room where they were coerced into performing sex acts with six men as part of a human trafficking ring in Portage la Prairie.

Mounties announced 65 charges against the six men and one woman during a news conference Tuesday at RCMP D Division headquarters.

“This was a fairly organized operation where the suspects used multiple platforms with the deliberate intent to exploit youth,” RCMP Insp. Shawn Pike said.

“While we were able to disrupt this operation and support the two known survivors, the tragic reality is there is more of this. If you think it’s not happening in your community, you are wrong.”

Portage RCMP launched an investigation Feb. 2, after receiving a tip about a girl seen walking around the city accompanied by older men. Officers located the girl and another teen, both 15, and learned they were being exploited, Pike said.

Police continue to search for a third girl, believed to be 13- or 14-years-old, who was also exploited. The investigation “is still unfolding” and it is possible there are other victims, Pike said.

Investigators say Chasity Nicole Assiniboine, 43, befriended the teens and offered them drugs and money to hang out with her friends.

The teens went to homes in Portage — a community of roughly 13,000, located about 80 kilometres west of Winnipeg — with Assiniboine between June 2023 and December 2023, police said.

“These girls trusted in this adult female. On many occasions, the youth were locked in the location by the adult female who remained throughout the entire interaction. These youths were not able to escape,” Pike said.

Police said men also sent nude photos to the two girls and demanded the victims send photos of themselves. The men and Assiniboine communicated through Snapchat or Facebook Messenger to groom or procure sexual acts from the youths, RCMP said.

“These girls trusted in this adult female.”–RCMP Insp. Shawn Pike

Assiniboine was paid in drugs, including methamphetamine and cocaine, in exchange for arranging the sexual encounters, RCMP said.

RCMP’s child exploitation unit executed 10 search warrants in Portage between February and June 4, seizing computers, cellphones and external hard drives as evidence. Officers also seized a large quantity of methamphetamine and cocaine as well as 13 rifles and shotguns.

Six Portage men — Sean Michael Boak, 40; Alexander Paul Lidster, 39; Wesley Clayton Roulette, 44; David Guy Howard Taylor, 40; Frank Peter Justin Tecza, 39; and a 34-year-old man — are charged with sex-related offences.

Assiniboine is charged with two counts of trafficking of a person under 18 and other offences. All of the accused know each other, police said.

The scale of the operation and the potential for other victims will remain unknown until a forensic review of the seized computers and electronics is complete, said RCMP divisional human trafficking co-ordinator Staff Sgt. Tara Clelland.

It is not uncommon for women to recruit young women into the sex trade because they are often seen as less threatening, she said.

“As a society, we have a difficult time accepting that women harm, women exploit, with sexually based offences especially.”

Many cases of sexual exploitation and human trafficking are often overlooked or unreported, she added.

Clelland urged parents and the public to remain on alert for suspicious behaviour and contact police if children show signs of abuse, are seen travelling alone at strange hours or have difficulty explaining their behaviour.

“If something feels wrong, generally it’s because it is, so just pay attention. We cannot rely on victims and survivors to put their hand up and say, ‘Hey, I need help.’ Some don’t even recognize that they are being exploited while it’s happening.”

Portage Mayor Sharilyn Knox said the news will be shocking to residents in the small city where “people know people.”

“It’s heartbreaking … This is probably the hardest day I’ve had as mayor. To be thinking that children in our community were harmed this way and knowing that there could be more,” she said.

“This is just another wakeup call for us to actually, really look at our community.”

The office of the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth offered a statement to the Free Press on the arrests Tuesday, saying it continues to call on the government to take strategic action to end child sexual exploitation and trafficking.

“Investments in prevention, early detection, and intervention are critical so they don’t fall through the cracks and become involved in tragic cases like this one,” the statement said.

The office has previously asked the province to review the Manitoba sexual exploitation strategy, also known as Tracia’s Trust, and expand services for youth victims.

It has also asked the province to review and reform addiction treatment programs and create a secure facility for sexually exploited youth.

The organization’s 2023 government compliance report shows no progress has been made on either of these recommendations since at least 2020.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca