Lawyers disagree on sentence for woman involved in sex trafficking

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Despite rehabilitation efforts by a fourth person convicted of her role in the trafficking of a Brantford teenager in 2019, a Crown prosecutor said Friday the woman still deserves to go to prison.

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Carly Creor, now 30, admitted guilt as part of a five-member group that took the 18-year-old to hotels and motels in southern Ontario, supplied her with drugs, arranged online “dates” and pressured her into having sex with more and more clients.

Rehabilitation must be considered, Crown prosecutor Heather Palin said, “but ultimately the seriousness of the offences warrants a prison sentence.”

Palin asked the judge to give him a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

Three other people have already been convicted in connection with an operation in which the group advertised for the young woman, organised a flood of clients, supplied her with medication to help her sleep and wake up, and monitored her movements, all while the group lived in a large house on Larry Crescent in Caledonia.

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Eventually, the exhausted woman called police from a Guelph hotel room and asked for help.

In January, Creor pleaded guilty to human trafficking and advertising sexual services while his co-defendants, who have already been convicted, pleaded guilty to human trafficking, a slightly different offense.

In a joint statement, Creor admitted to posting ads, setting prices and contacting customers. It also berated the victim, who was referred to as “Kim” or “Emma” when she missed appointments.

Defense attorney Scott Reid not only argued against a prison sentence for his client, but urged Judge Paul Sweeney to give her a suspended sentence where she would essentially serve time under house arrest.

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Reid said the prison sentence suggested by the Crown would put Creor under supervision for just three and a half years, while a maximum community sentence of two years plus three years of probation would see her supervised for much longer.

Additionally, Reid said Creor herself was a victim of other members of the group, which another judge called a “criminal organization.”

“Violence is a learned behavior,” Reid said, noting that after Creor’s arrest, a cousin told police that Creor had contacted him earlier to say she needed help getting away from her attackers.

“(She said) she was being sex trafficked,” Reid said, adding that Creor's then-partner got her hooked on opiates and forced her to go on “dates.”

The Crown confirmed that investigators saw relevant texts and reviewed search results on Creor's phone around the time she was looking for ways to commit suicide.

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Palin said she took Creor's “sympathetic” situation into account before suggesting the prison sentence.

“She was deeply involved in this overall trafficking scheme, although her role was different. If you look at the role she admitted to playing, she was sort of the 'control center' of what (the victim) did on a day-to-day basis.”

A tearful Creor also addressed the judge directly, saying she was in survival mode at the time of the offences and that after trying twice to leave the group, she did not feel safe to try again.

“I was addicted to drugs and alcohol and was financially dependent on others, having lost contact with my family.

“I had pretty much given up hope of ever getting out of that house. I felt accepted and loved by that group and as a result, I became someone I'm not proud of.”

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Creor offered her “deepest and most sincere apologies” to the victim, the court and her family, many of whom supported her from the courtroom gallery.

Sweeney is reserving sentence until the end of August, but will have to take into account parity in his decision – a legal principle that means sentences should be similar for those who commit similar offences in similar circumstances.

Daniel Campbell, the undisputed leader of the group that lured the victim, was sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison.

Dragisa Lucic, who was Creor's partner at the time, was sentenced to six and a half years in prison.

Joshua Hillock, who was a driver and sometimes delivered food or drugs to the victim, was sentenced to four years in prison.

Each sentence was reduced based on time already served.

Another woman, Crystal-Anne Marier, was acquitted after testifying that she had only been part of the group because Campbell was her partner and drug dealer and that she was suffering from a serious addiction at the time of her involvement.

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