Robbery call leads to human trafficking charges

Human trafficking, robbery and additional charges laid after an investigation by the General Investigation and Special Enforcement Sections of the Integrated Criminal Investigation Division.

Shortly after 11 p.m. on October 4, police received a call of a robbery on Lakecrest Drive in Dartmouth involving a firearm. The 16-year-old female victim was robbed of a sum of money and some personal items. The suspects fled the area in a van and were taken into custody without incident in Bedford. No one was injured during the robbery and the parties were known to each other. An airsoft rifle was located in the van. Police held three men and another 16-year-old female for questioning.

Through the course of the investigation, it was determined that two of these men directed and influenced a sixteen-year-old girl, the original victim of the robbery call, for the purpose of prostitution.

Nineteen-year-old Joshua Osborn Mabie of Dartmouth will appear in Dartmouth Provincial Court today to face the following charges:

• Human trafficking of a person under the age of eighteen
• Material benefit from trafficking a person under the age of eighteen
• Procuring
• Advertising sexual services
• Robbery
• Using an imitation firearm in a commission of an offence
• Possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose
• Breach of a probation order x3

Thirty-year-old Brandon David Smith of Lower Sackville will appear in Dartmouth Provincial Court today to face the following charges:

• Human trafficking of a person under the age of eighteen

• Material benefit from trafficking a person under the age of eighteen
• Breach of probation x2

Twenty-year-old Dante Keenan Longard of Dartmouth will appear in Dartmouth Provincial Court today to face the following charges:

• Robbery
• Breach of a recognizance x2
• Breach of a probation order

A sixteen-year-old female youth from Halifax will appear in Halifax Provincial Youth Court today to face the following charges:

• Robbery
• Possession of property obtained by crime less than $5000
• Breach of a recognizance
• Breach of a sentence order x2
• Breach of a probation order

Human trafficking is an offence that involves controlling, forcing, intimidating or deceiving a person in order to exploit them through various forms of sexual exploitation or forced labour. This crime can happen in communities of all sizes and unfortunately Halifax is not immune. If you have any information pertaining to this case or other potential human trafficking matters, please call 902-490-5020 or anonymous tips can be sent to Crime Stoppers by calling toll-free 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), submitting a secure web tip atwww.crimestoppers.ns.ca or texting a tip – Tip 202 + your message to 274637.

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Source: Media Release