19-year-old man charged after allegedly exploiting woman into sex trade in GTA for months

A 19-year-old man is facing human trafficking charges after allegedly exploiting a woman into the sex trade for five months throughout the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

Peel Regional Police say they launched their investigation in April. According to police, the accused allegedly recruited a woman into the sex trade and took her earnings.

Officers arrested Nyah Lapierre, of Toronto, on April 7, and at that time, they say he was holding a loaded .45 calibre handgun and was “in the company of a person later identified as a second victim.”

Lapierre is facing more than 15 charges, including assault, trafficking in persons, householder permitting sexual activity to a person between the ages of 16 and 18, and two counts of failure to comply with a release order. The charges have not been tested in court.

Weeks later, on April 25, police laid five additional charges against Lapierre, including trafficking in persons under 18 and exercising control, direction or influence for a person under 18.

“These are horrible crimes and there is no place in our community for the people that commit them,” Dep. Chief Nick Milinovich said in a release issued Tuesday.

Investigators believe there may be more victims.

Police are asking anyone with additional information to contact them or Crime Stoppers anonymously.