Alleged kidnappers acquitted by judge in Bradford drug house beating

Rashaan Monlouis and Targe Mooroe outside Barrie, Ont. courthouse after judge declares the pair not guilty of 2023 kidnapping.

Warning: This article contains details that may be disturbing to readers.

Two men accused of abducting and robbing a man at a drug house in Bradford in late 2023 have been found not guilty by a Barrie judge following two weeks of trial.

Targe Mooroe, 28, of Toronto and Rahsaan Monlouis, 26, of Innisfil, walked out of the Barrie courthouse after being acquitted of kidnapping and robbery charges more than two years after they were arrested by South Simcoe police.

“I was always innocent, man,” said Monlouis. “You know, always innocent.” Mooroe smiled and said he was “happy” to be free after being held in custody for nearly 900 days.

Monlouis and Mooroe were also acquitted of uttering death threats, by Justice Jocelyn Speyer, earlier in the trial when the prosecution agreed it could not prove those charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

The men were among three individuals accused by police when a Bradford man said he escaped from a home along Highway 11 where he had been beaten and held against his will. The man testified about what he experienced over several hours at the hands of the men but admitted his memory of the events was clouded by head injuries and drug use.

He told the court he was assaulted at a drug house in Bradford that night and driven to another location. He said when he tried to get high and hang out with a woman named Mandy, he was rushed by his attackers. He recalled being taken to a home where he was supplied crack cocaine and robbed of his car keys, wallet and identification.

• Bradford kidnapping trial begins with complainant testifying how he escaped

Justice Speyer, however, ruled it was unclear what role, if any, Monlouis and Mooroe played in the attack and robbery. Justice Speyer said the complainant’s evidence did not provide a “reliable account of who kidnapped him.”

The judge ruled the complainant’s account of what happened to him was “very much a reconstruction based on what he learned after the fact,” and that his drug use “exacerbated his unreliability” leaving the man and the judge “uncertain about what happened and who did what.”

The third man charged, Ryan Kempton, pleaded guilty prior to trial and was sentenced. Mooroe was arrested on scene shortly after the complainant said he escaped the home when his captor fell asleep. He said he ran to a nearby small business on the property and asked for help. Monlouis was arrested months later when the complainant identified him from a lineup of mugshots supplied by investigators. The complainant identified both Mooroe and Monlouis in court as his attackers and kidnappers.

• Defence witness testifies about ‘friends’ and man with ‘two black eyes’ in kidnapping trial

The court heard contradictory testimony from subpoenaed defence witness Rocky Tangreda, who owned the home where the complainant said he was held captive.

Tangreda testified he knew all the men involved that night and described them as “friends” and acquaintances he had met around town at various drug houses where he went to hang out, drink and do drugs. He said the complainant told him that night that he was “in the wrong place at the wrong time.” He said he never witnessed the complainant being assaulted or held against his will that night.

Lawyers for Monlouis and Mooroe declined to comment on their acquittals.