Ontario judge releases convicted sex-trafficker, dog killer following ‘torture’ at notorious Toronto-area jail

The Maplehurst Correctional Complex is shown in Milton, Ont., on Friday, March 8, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

An Ontario Superior Court judge has released a 36-year-old man convicted of sex-trafficking eight vulnerable women over nearly a decade after he was found to have endured torturous conditions while in custody at Maplehurst jail.

In a decision released last month, Justice Clayton Conlan sentenced Jermaine Neverson to time served after he was found guilty of 22 offences, including human trafficking, unlawful confinement, sexual assault, aggravated assault, and the killing of one of his victim’s dogs.

The abuse was carried out between 2013 and 2021 against the victims who were described in an agreed statement of facts as vulnerable, due to their relative youth, poverty, drug addiction, homelessness and other traumas. Conlan said Neverson treated them “as slaves.”

“It paints a tragic landscape of a man who dominated and ruled over women like they were his subjects, stripping them of their dignity and self-worth and leaving them forever scarred, inside and out, as reflected in the poignant victim impact statements that have been filed with the Court,” he wrote.

By the time Conlan handed down the decision in connection with the Sept. 25, 2023 conviction, Neverson had already spent more than four-and-a-half years in prison. While in custody, Neverson was subjected to “corporal punishment and treatment that was akin to torture” during a December 2023 incident at Maplehurst Correctional Complex, Conlan said in his ruling.

On Dec. 22 and 23, some 200 inmates were forced to, among other things, sit in only their underwear in the jail’s hallway for a “lengthy period of time” in “unbearably cold” conditions because the industrial fans were turned on, Conlan said.

• READ MORE: Maplehurst inmate abuse led to the collapse of a murder case. Other cases could be at risk too

They were also exposed to “unreasonable tactics of intimidations and threats,” such as pointing pepper ball guns at their heads. Conlan noted that it was “impossible” for the inmates to sleep because of the loudness of the fans, the coldness of the temperature, and the lack of any clothing or bedding inside the cell. No telephone calls with anyone, including legal counsel, were permitted and showers were not allowed.

The incident has also been cited as the reason to stay first-degree murder charges against three other men in October 2025 in an unrelated case. Conlan previously wrote that the actions taken by the officers were in retribution for an earlier assault on a fellow officer by an inmate.

Neverson’s defence had pushed to stay the proceedings in light of the treatment at Maplehurst, while the Crown looked for 18 years in prison. In making his decision, the judge noted that, unlike the three men whose first-degree murder charges were stayed, Neverson had already pleaded guilty to the charges.

Conlan dismissed Neverson’s application for a stay and explained that a “fit sentence” would be in the range of 10.5 years, minus a minimum of four years due to the “multiple” charter violations associated with the incident.

“There is, hence, no further time in custody for Mr. Neverson. He shall be released today, from the courthouse, unless he is the subject of a hold by the authorities,” Conlan wrote.

Ontario appealing Neverson’s release

In a statement to CTV News Toronto, a spokesperson for Ontario’s Solicitor General, Michael Kerzner, said they are appealing the decision.

They said that while the Maplehurst incident is unacceptable, violent offenders like Neverson “belong behind bars, not out on our streets.”

“Human trafficking, the exploitation of vulnerable people, and assault are heinous crimes, and victims deserve to see these perpetrators held fully accountable for their actions,” a Dakota Moniz said in an email.

Moniz added that the correctional officers involved in the December 2023 incident have been, and will continue to be held accountable for failing to meet the high standards expected of Ontario correctional officers.

With files from Codi Wilson