The Hamilton Spectator

Human traffickers to serve prison time

Caledonia men guilty of forcing Brantford woman into prostitution

J.P. ANTONACCI LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER J.P. ANTONACCI’S REPORTING ON HALDIMAND AND NORFOLK IS FUNDED BY THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT THROUGH ITS LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE. JPANTONACCI@THESPEC.COM

The young victim of a humantrafficking scheme was not in the courtroom in Cayuga on Wednesday to watch two of the men convicted of forcing her into the sex trade be sentenced to prison time for their crimes.

Nor did the victim, a young woman from Brantford who cannot be named due to a publication ban, submit a victim impact statement ahead of sentencing.

But Justice Robert J. Nightingale made frequent reference to her while sentencing Dragisa Lucic to seven years and Joshua Hillock to 3.5 years for their roles in turning the aspiring model into a prostitute, and profiting from her sex work from October 2019 to January 2020.

“I do not need a victim impact statement to tell me the traumatic effect of the victim being sexually exploited,” said Nightingale, noting the victim suffered physical and emotional distress while recounting her abuse during 12 days of court testimony.

“I also have no doubt that the experiences the victim endured because of these offences likely had a profound, permanent and traumatic negative impact on her.”

The judge said Lucic, Daniel Campbell and an unnamed “third party,” all from Caledonia, exercised full “coercion and control” over the victim, determining when she could eat and where she could go, and keeping all the money she earned despite promises to share the proceeds with her.

After accounting for time already served in pre-sentence custody — and shaving additional months in acknowledgment of the “harsh” conditions in jail during COVID-19 lockdowns and Lucic’s “onerous” pretrial bail conditions — the judge sentenced Lucic to five years and five months behind bars. Hillock will serve two years and five months in prison.

The Crown wanted a 10-year sentence for Lucic, while his lawyer countered with six years reduced to 4.5 after deductions for time served. Prosecutors sought a five-year sentence for Hillock, whose lawyer asked for four years in total with two years and five months spent in jail.

In giving Hillock a sentence on the lower end of the scale for a human-trafficking conviction, Nightingale cited his lack of criminal record and “reasonable prospects” for rehabilitation.

Both offenders were ordered to submit a DNA sample, adhere to a lifetime weapons ban and not communicate with the victim while imprisoned. Lucic was ordered to pay the victim $7,500 as restitution.

Both offenders were ordered to submit a DNA sample, adhere to a lifetime weapons ban and not communicate with the victim

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2022-12-08T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-12-08T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://thespec.pressreader.com/article/281578064698779

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