Nova Scotia man persuaded woman to perform sex acts, ordered teens to beat homeless man

A Nova Scotia man with a long criminal history has pleaded guilty to, among other charges, persuading a 19-year-old woman to commit sexual acts, ordering teenagers to beat a homeless youth and for threatening to kill a woman and her children.

In January 2020, Morgan MacDonald was charged with 31 offenses, including human trafficking, child luring and material benefit from sexual services.

His trial in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia was scheduled to begin this week in Truro, Nova Scotia. But MacDonald pleaded guilty to seven charges when he appeared in court last week. They are:

• Getting a person to offer or provide sexual services for compensation.

• Flight.

• Cocaine and MDMA trafficking.

• Assault.

• Two counts of breaking and entering.

• Making threats.

In a recording of the proceedings, Judge Jeffrey Hunt asked the 33-year-old if he understood he was waiving his right to a trial and admitting guilt of the offences.

“Yes, sir,” MacDonald replied.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 25.

A Crown lawyer has indicated his intention to have the remaining charges dismissed at the conclusion of the sentencing hearing.

MacDonald organized sexual “calls”

According to an agreed statement of facts, most of the offenses occurred between June and September 2019, when MacDonald was fleeing police while on parole.

In July 2019, MacDonald met with what the document describes as a transgender woman and offered to put her in contact with “people seeking sexual services for money.”

The woman — whose identity is protected by a publication ban and who was aged 19 and 20 at the time of the incident — accepted the offer and MacDonald began arranging “calls” for her.

The woman's 17-year-old girlfriend took photos of her in a bra and underwear for use in advertisements for sexual services, which were published by MacDonald. He communicated with people who responded to ads and negotiated terms, including price and location.

“For each call, [MacDonald] directed [the woman] to charge her $300 so she could initially sit in the car with the individuals. After that, the price was $200 per sexual service,” the agreed statement of facts states, adding that the majority of the meetings took place at a Dartmouth motel.

The release said the woman had to pay MacDonald up to 40 percent of the total payment, and if she didn't, she had to pay him double the fee after her next call.

She made 10 to 15 calls to MacDonald.

“During the period of the infringement, [the woman] “He was afraid of the accused because he made threatening comments to her and around her,” the statement said. “Some of these comments referred to his gun ownership and gang membership.”

Bloods of Millbrook

The release states that in early summer 2019, MacDonald recruited a number of youths – including two 15-year-old boys and a 14-year-old boy – to be part of a gang, which he described as family nicknamed the “Millbrook”. Bloods.”

He ordered them to wear red bandanas to signify that they were part of the gang and forced them to travel back and forth between Truro and Dartmouth, “exercising control over them wherever they went.”

The statement said he did so by using threats and intimidation and by supplying drugs, alcohol and money.

“[MacDonald] spoke regularly about owning guns and carried a bear mace with him,” he said.”[MacDonald] told the aforementioned men and several others that he had a history of murdering people and was affiliated with a Toronto gang.

The release states that in July 2019, MacDonald stole $40, an iPhone and a pack of cigarettes from a 23-year-old homeless man with whom he had previously had an argument.

He then ordered several people to beat the same person, which they did. The attack at Victoria Park was filmed. MacDonald did not participate in it, but directed it.

“I will kill you and all your children”

On August 20, 2019, the statement of facts states that MacDonald went to a house in Truro with the intention of harming an 18-year-old man. A woman at the home told him to leave her property.

“The defendant responded by saying, 'I'm coming back. I'm going to bring guns. I'm going to kill you and all your children. I'll bring my Bloods,'” the statement read, adding that the woman took the threat seriously and reported it to the police.

MacDonald was released from a maximum security prison in New Brunswick in May 2019. He was ordered to serve the remainder of his four-year sentence in a halfway house in Saint John.

But he never showed up at the halfway house and ended up in Truro, Nova Scotia, sparking a summer of fear and frustration for the town's parents and teenagers.

Over the next four months – while he was on the loose and despite his parents alerting authorities – MacDonald racked up dozens of criminal charges, including seven to which he pleaded guilty last week.

Parents who spoke to CBC News said the RCMP and Truro Police Service did not take their concerns about MacDonald seriously.

They believe the information they provided to police was met with skepticism and excuses, and they felt helpless as MacDonald continued to prey on young people.

At the time, RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Jennifer Clarke said police received several tips from concerned parents regarding MacDonald's location, some of which contributed to his arrest on September 23, 2019.

Previous convictions

A Crown lawyer told the court victim impact statements should be filed as part of the sentencing hearing.

MacDonald has a criminal history in Nova Scotia dating back to 2013, when he and four accomplices robbed a taxi driver at knifepoint in Dartmouth.

Prior to that, MacDonald was convicted of robbery and assault in northeastern Ontario dating back to 2009.

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