North Preston men face additional charges in alleged confinement case

CTV Atlantic: Men due in court for bail hearing Two young men accused of confining and sexually assaulting a teenage girl are in court for a bail hearing.

Two 18-year-old men are facing serious charges in connection with the alleged kidnapping and sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl in North Preston, N.S.

Police responded to a report of gunshots fired at a home on Clarence Street Thursday evening.

Investigators found no evidence of a shooting but allege a girl had escaped from a home on the street after being held in a basement and sexually assaulted for two days.

Officers arrested an 18-year-old male near the home Thursday night and arrested a second 18-year-old male in connection with the alleged incident at Windsor provincial court Friday morning.

Doreze Marvin Beals and Andre Jerome Gray appeared in Dartmouth provincial court on Monday to face a number of charges:

Beals is also facing charges of assault with a weapon, possession of a weapon dangerous to the public peace and breach of probation.

“When you take a step back and look at the totality of the charges, you see a scenario that is very frightening,” says Det. Andrew Matthews.

“Anytime you have a 15-year-old girl that’s sexually exploited, that’s going to get our attention and we are going to go quite hard to deploy a lot of resources to work hard to have this come to a successful conclusion.”

The girl’s mother, who cannot be identified due a publication ban, was at court Monday when the suspects appeared.

She told CTV News that once she discovered where her daughter was, she drove to the home and yelled for her daughter. She said she heard her daughter scream for help and that’s when the teen managed to escape.

She says her daughter is in hospital getting the help she needs but also says her daughter is receiving threats and fears for her safety.

Police say they are investigating whether the accused have any connections to local gangs, including a prostitution ring that goes by the name of North Preston’s Finest.

“Obviously that is part of the nature of the charges, of the human trafficking charge, that there may be a network present where people can be transported from one area to the next,” says Matthews.

Gray and Beals have yet to enter pleas. They will remain in custody into their next court appearance on Wednesday.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kelland Sundahl