Two men have been charged in an alleged kidnapping after they forced a woman into their vehicle and drove her to a Mississauga hotel intending to sell her into the sex trade, Durham Regional Police said.
Authorities were asked to conduct a wellness check in the area of Kings Crescent and Burcher Road in Ajax just after 10:30 p.m. on March 31.
Police were contacted after the woman failed to return to her residence for her curfew, and it was reported that the female victim was last seen entering a vehicle with two unknown men.
Authorities later learned that the victim had been communicating with a male suspect via the French social media networking app Yubo earlier in the day.
It’s alleged that the female victim arranged to meet with the male suspect in the afternoon, but the suspect did not show up. Later that evening, the female victim was out walking with a friend when the male suspect approached her in a vehicle being driven by another man.
Men, 19 and 20, charged in kidnapping
The male suspect forced the woman into the vehicle and fled the area. It’s alleged she later texted a friend that she needed help and was being forced into the sex trade.
Investigators located the female victim and the two male suspects at a hotel in Mississauga. The pair were taken into custody without incident, and the woman was taken to a place of safety. She was not physically harmed in the incident, police said.
Both men were identified as 19-year-old Oneil Ford of Oshawa and 20-year-old Deshawn Brown of Pickering and have been charged with kidnapping. The two men were held on bail.
Anyone with information about this or similar incidents is asked to contact authorities.
A support network for survivors of human trafficking has been established in Durham, and these services can be accessed via www.stopht.com.
