Sex trafficking trial begins for group accused of exploiting women in Innisfil

Warning: Details in this article may be disturbing and triggering for some readers.

The eight-week trial for four alleged human traffickers got underway in a Barrie courtroom Tuesday.

It has been three years since a woman first came forward to South Simcoe police with allegations she was being sexually exploited at a home in Innisfil by three men: Oneil Hopkinson, Tyrone Dias, Joseph Carvalho and a woman named Jashyna Singh.

Crown Attorney Caitlin Downing told the jury, in her opening address, at least four women reported being exploited for sex, with their services being advertised online.

• Alleged human and drug traffickers busted in Innisfil, Ont.

The Crown said the women were given drugs and forced to sell their bodies, while giving half their earnings to their alleged pimps. The Crown said the women were being watched with surveillance cameras installed by Carvalho, in the home dubbed “Daddy’s House of Whores.”

One complainant told police she was sexually assaulted by Oneil Hopkinson, who is now 40, to see if she was ready to work in the home. Three of the women told police they were trafficked by Dias, Singh, and Carvalho.

It is alleged Dias, 30, and Singh, 32, posted ads, and sought out and communicated with clients through a website called Leo’s List, then collected the money.

“Someone cannot consent to being trafficked,” Downing told the jury adding the “sex trade in Canada is criminalized.”

The Crown ending her opening address, telling the jury “You will have no doubt” Oneil Hopkinson, Tyrone Dias, Jashyna Singh, and Joseph Carvalho “are guilty as charged.”

The accused were among seven people charged as part of a sex and drug trafficking investigation. One man is scheduled to stand trial separately while another pleaded guilty last month when he admitted to trafficking the women and sexually assaulting one of the complainants. Charges against another man were withdrawn by the Crown.

• Police raid Innisfil property making several arrests

Police said tens of thousands of dollars worth of illegal drugs including cocaine, fentanyl, crystal meth and pills had been seized during their investigation.

The Crown’s first witness is scheduled to testify Wednesday.