A 27-year-old Hamilton woman and her common-law partner have been charged with trafficking a teenage girl into prostitution.
Nicole Sendecki, 27, and Stephen Ball, 49, who share an apartment on King Street West, were arrested Monday.
They are scheduled to appear in court Thursday.
Nicole Sendecki, 27, and Stephen Ball, 49, who share an apartment on King Street West, were arrested Monday.
They are scheduled to appear in court Thursday.
Police say the couple was driving around the city and came across the vulnerable teen girl. The alleged pimps convinced the 14-year-old to work for them as an escort.
“When they recruited her at the side of the road, they took her in a vehicle,” said Derek Mellor, a 13-year officer and Hamilton’s first designated human-trafficking investigator.
Mellor declined to say where they went.
“The evidence suggests they were using that place as a bawdy house,” he said, adding the girl’s services were sold online.
Court documents indicate she was taken to a hotel. While it’s unclear how long the alleged prostitution went on, the documents also reference the couple taking and using money collected from the girl’s work sometime between Sept. 23 and 24.
She was kept under their direction and control until she was able to contact her parents, police allege.
“We know that other individuals work for them as escorts, but we don’t know if they are classified as victims yet. We are still investigating,” Mellor said.
This is the first time Hamilton police have laid trafficking charges involving a minor under human- trafficking provisions of the Criminal Code introduced in 2005.
Sendecki and Ball are charged with trafficking in persons, transporting a person to a common bawdy house, owning a bawdy house and living on the avails of juvenile prostitution.
“When they recruited her at the side of the road, they took her in a vehicle,” said Derek Mellor, a 13-year officer and Hamilton’s first designated human-trafficking investigator.
Mellor declined to say where they went.
“The evidence suggests they were using that place as a bawdy house,” he said, adding the girl’s services were sold online.
Court documents indicate she was taken to a hotel. While it’s unclear how long the alleged prostitution went on, the documents also reference the couple taking and using money collected from the girl’s work sometime between Sept. 23 and 24.
She was kept under their direction and control until she was able to contact her parents, police allege.
“We know that other individuals work for them as escorts, but we don’t know if they are classified as victims yet. We are still investigating,” Mellor said.
This is the first time Hamilton police have laid trafficking charges involving a minor under human- trafficking provisions of the Criminal Code introduced in 2005.
Sendecki and Ball are charged with trafficking in persons, transporting a person to a common bawdy house, owning a bawdy house and living on the avails of juvenile prostitution.
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