Mississauga Man Sentenced to 8 years for Human Trafficking
Region of Peelâ A Mississauga man has been found guilty and sentenced to 8 years for numerous offences in connection with a Human Trafficking investigation led by members of the Peel Vice, Narcotics, and Street Level Organized Crime Unit.
In February 2017, Francis Antoine , a 36 year-old man from Mississauga recruited a 19 year old female from Ottawa to work in the sex trade under his direction. She was exploited in various hotels over a two week period between Ottawa and Mississauga. Further investigation resulted in officers discovering Antoine also recruited a 20 year old female from Sudbury in September 2015. Similar to the other victim, she was exploited in the sex trade over 5 months in various hotels and condominiums between Mississauga, Ottawa, and Toronto. In March 2017, Antoine was arrested and charged with numerous Human Trafficking related offences.
On June 24th, 2019, in the Superior Court of Justice in Brampton, Francis Antoine was found guilty of the following:
- Two counts of Human Trafficking
- One count of Receiving a Material Benefit from Human Trafficking
- Two counts of Exercise control over a person to provide sexual services for consideration
On Friday, January 31st, 2020, in the Superior Court of Justice in Brampton, Francis Antoine was subsequently sentenced to eight years in prison for his involvement in the exploitation of these young women.
Human trafficking is a complex and often a hidden crime that can result in serious and long-term trauma for victims. Human traffickers prey on the most vulnerable people in our society and use different tactics to control, abuse, exploit and profit from them. Peel Regional Police is committed to identifying and aiding victims of human trafficking as well as identifying, arresting and prosecuting those responsible for exploiting these victims.
For further information and resources in relation to human trafficking please visit link
Anyone with information regarding these types of incidents is asked to contact Investigators of the Vice, Narcotics, and Street Level Organized Crime Unit at (905) 453-2121, ext. 3555.Information may also be left anonymously by calling Peel Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), or by visiting www.peelcrimestoppers.ca.
For media inquiries, please contact the on-duty Public Information Officer at (905) 453-2121, ext. 4027.
Like us on Facebook, subscribe to us on YouTube and follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
N/R: 20-032
Inc: 17-0137257
Peel Regional Police â A Safer Community Together
